


The 38th Campaign

by BNZG



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Action, Alien Invasion, Alien Takeover, Aliens, Bad Future, Giant/Tiny, Giants, Hiding in Plain Sight, Macro/Micro, Multi, Size Difference, Thriller, shrink ray
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 01:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12048855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BNZG/pseuds/BNZG
Summary: Twenty years ago, enormous aliens invaded and conquered the Earth, killing off nearly two-thirds of the human population and subjugated the survivors.However, there have been many groups of humans who have managed to escape from under the thumb of these aliens, and have remained hidden from the watchful Shenirian eyes. As such, "campaigns" are routinely held to find those humans and eradicate them before they have a chance to rebuild, or worse, develop formidable rebellion groups.Mazel is a young Shenirian soldier who is tasked with a special campaign mission. When one underground human settlement is discovered to have vast amounts of energy radiating in it, he must embark on a covert mission to infiltrate the humans' hideout incognito and discover what exactly the humans have done to warrant such unease among his superiors. At the same time; his loyalties are put to the test when he begins to realize that not everything is as what it seems with not only the humans, but the Shenirian agenda as well.





	1. Prologue: First Steps

_"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you and all but..."_

 

 _"But_ what? _Do you think I don't have what it takes?"_

 

 _"It's nothing like that. It's just that...well, it's_ you _."_

 

_He grimaced._

 

_The other continued. "You're the sentimental kinda guy, and well...you have that kinda...thing..."_

 

_"What thing!?"_

 

_The other frowned._

 

_"You know...thing..."_

 

_"I don't know that 'thing;' explain that 'thing' to me already. What is it exactly about me?"_

 

_The other sighed._

 

_"That 'thing' about you. You're a soft kinda guy."_

 

_He grinned. It wasn't a happy grin._

 

_"I got it. Really. They wouldn't have chosen me if I wasn't qualified._

 

_"...you sure?"_

 

_Pause_

 

_"They're just a bunch of rodents alright? I'm not like **him.** I can differentiate between people and animals. Alright._

 

_"...Just...just keep your distance."_

 

_"...will do..." he said, "...will do."_

 

_\-----_

 

   Mazel stood at attention as his commanding officer passed in front of young recruits. His cold eyes seemed to pierce his very essence as the man glowered disapprovingly at the chosen selection of enlisted men and women that stood before him. He didn't know if it was just him, but he seemed to stare even longer at him than the others around him; he was incredibly nervous and whether the old man could see through his prepared exterior was something he was unsure of.    
  
  The room was larger than needed be for the small band of sixteen teens in the room, but this wasn't something Mazel planned to voice out loud. He was one out of ten males and six females, none of the others he was familair with. He began to wonder what the current situation of the entire operation was if only a small number of people were selected; according to the rumors, there were usually at least fifty people enlisted in a campaign at minimum. The details of this campaign were incredibly vague, but the importance of it was seemed to be highly emphasized by all those around him. He would aid in the advancement of the Shenirian race and be known as a hero, that was all he knew. As a selected candidate, he was a little more than enthusiastic when he confirmed his spot as one of those who had taken on the task to have his name engraved in history.   
  
  After one last glance at the recruits, he turned heel and stood at the door as another, much taller man entered the room. Right off the bat, he noticed the various emblems on his uniform; the proof of one who had seen and fought many a battle. He had deep green eyes, a bald head and a salt and pepper mustache and beard. His face seemed impossibly stern, as if a scowl was permanently grafted to his face. Mazel began to wonder if he was actually ready for the task.   
  
 As the man stood at the podium, he gave one last glance at his select few and nodded before speaking.   
  
 "I am General Hull, the coordinator of the current 38th campaign. The sixteen of you have agreed to aid us in promoting the Shenirian colonization of Earth."   
  
  Mazel knew that much already. In fact, that what all the campaigns had been about. 

  General Hull continued, "Last month, we discovered a human underground city, hidden within an unclaimed area of the South-East District. We suspect them to have a rebellion  that will counter the advancement of our species. Our detectors have discovered the possibility of carrying possible weapons of mass destruction. We have assumed that these weapons will be used against us in the form of retaliation."

 Mazel felt a little more than nervous. He was sure he wasn't the only one.

  There weren't many humans left. Most of them had been wiped out about twenty years ago since the arrival of his kind. The thought of some wild humans still remaining seemed foreign to him, let alone a whole city of them. Even more worrisome is that they seemed to have somehow retrieved formidable weapons on their own after the initial extermination.

  Hull went on, "The details of the weapons are unclear; but according to the levels of energy depicted from our detectors, they may be enough to wipe out one quarter of the sectors within the South-East District. As such, a direct offensive attack isn't possible without massive casualties. Hence where you sixteen come in."

  A wall-sized, holographic screen buzzed to life behind General Hull. Mazel looked higher to see a depiction of a chrome, circular band with a small encryptions on the underside. According the the diagram, it was a basically a less-than-fancy wristband.

  "The sixteen of you are to infiltrate this underground city and report information about these weapons and their mechanisms and to disable them before they are put to use. Your task is to connect these explosive type short-circuiters to the mainframe of their generators to disable their power."

  Mazel grew confused. As much as he felt he shouldn't have questioned it, there was a fallacy in the General's statement. Infiltrate an underground city built for humans? Given the obvious differences between the Shenirian race and the human race, they would be spotted immediately, no matter how stealthy they were. Were they purposefully tasked with a suicide mission? Or did the General have some incomprehensible strategic plan?

  The cadets looked at each other briefly; the same thought on their minds. A young cadet with short red hair and bright green eyes rose her hand hesitantly, as if expecting to be executed on the spot. "Permission to speak sir?"

  General Hull looked her way, causing her to flinch. "Permission granted."

  The young girl seemed to wait a second and choose her words before making her voice known. "Given the size differences between Shenirians and the humans, isn't it, um, isn't a infiltration procedure unfeasible?"

  The general didn't seemed bothered by the question. In fact, as uncharacteristic as it seemed to Mazel and perhaps the others, he  _smirked._ Pressing several buttons on the side of the podium, he answered her, "Yes. Given our differences in scale, a successful infiltration would indeed be impossible." 

  The holographic screen shifted as another mechanism was depicted next to the ringlets.

  "As such, you will be equipped with these."

  The screen began to condense and split itself into two rows. Where there was empty space on the right side of the screen, another diagram of a ringlet materialized. Unlike the short-circuit devices, this ring seemed to glow a neon pink, with silver lingings tracing through the center. Mazel envisioned it as a thick connected glow stick. Upon closer inspection, he saw a small yellow ball of light inside seemed to circulate around the loop. There seemed to be a small hoop encircled on both sides of the ring.

  "These bands are matter-manipulators. They condense and temporarily displace the molecular structure of the body. In short, they will reduce you to a human size for an extended amount of time. These are the key to your infiltration.  "

  It took a few seconds for his statement to finally click.  _"An actually shrink-ray?"_ Mazel thought, a little more than skeptical. While the Shenirian race was much more relatively advanced, the possibility of actually using a shrink ray seemed farfetched. But given the circumstances he laid down before them, he doubted that General Hull would joke about something like that.

  "They must be recharged semiweekly in order to maintain your stature. You must also keep them on you at all times while infiltrating the city. Failure to do either will cause you to return to your normal size and may subsequently lead to the humans eradicating you. It should go without saying, despite our size difference, enough firepower can down one of you," General Hull said sternly.  "I'm pretty sure most of you are still aware of your own weaknesses."

  No one objected, not that they were expected to in the first place.

  "In two weeks time, all of you are expected camouflage yourselves amongst the human populace and will be monitored closely once you have entered. Keep in contact amongst yourselves and keep vigilant over their activities. This campaign is suspected to last at least six months time at most. Time is at the essence. You all have been chosen as the best qualified of the incoming recruits for this mission and we trust that you know what is currently at stake. Until the time comes, you all are expected to meet here at this facility at eight-hundred hours daily for training and information sessions until then. Failure to comply will lead to serious consequences. Is that understood?" Hull demanded, not quite phrased as a question.

   A sharp and simultaneous "Yes sir!" came from the young cadets. General Hull nodded.

  "Good, then you are dismissed."

\-----

 

  Mazel dropped his files on his desk, and promptly hopped onto his bed, still fully clothed in his military attire.

  So this was how it was going to be.

  He felt drained from the anxiety; largely from the fact that he would be tasked with basically defusing something more powerful than an atom bomb, by first shrinking down to fit amongst left over wild humans. He didn't know what was more unnerving, the fact that  _somehow_ these humans had managed to create a weapon capable of blowing up several cities or the fact that  _he_ was one of a very select few that was tasked to handle the situation. He made no room for pride as the gravity of the situation made him wearier by the second.

   Feeling the overwhelming need to lessen his stress, he turned to his side and put a hand on the floor and beckoned for his pet.

  "Daze, come here."

   He waited a few seconds. After a moment, a tiny young human appeared from behind his desk. The boy walked over to the bed where Mazel laid and stepped onto his open palm.

   Carefully, Mazel sat up and placed his feet on the floor as he looked down at the human in his hand. Using a finger from his other hand, Mazel gingerly patted the boy's head. "I've been given a very big task today. If I succeed, I might make history. Doesn't that sound nice, Daze?"

   True to his name, the young blonde boy in his hand didn't seem to react to his master's petting, at least outwardly; he merely stared at the gigantic head hovering over him with rather empty blue eyes. In a monotonous voice, he responded with a simple, "Yes sir."

  Mazel gave a gentle smile; ever since he had taken in the young human from a friend that could no longer look after him, he had only known "Daze" to be a seemingly sad little creature. He never spoke above a monotone and only replied in the answers his master wanted to hear. In fact, according to his friend, ever since the human had been sent to training, he had always been like that. Mazel at times wandered how the training process for humans operated, but having observed Daze's disposition, he wasn't too keen to find out.

  "I'll be a hero. I will be one of a few who will be able to save cities worth of people. Its amazing, isn't it?" Mazel asked, still patting the boy's rather matted and messy hair. The human didn't respond this time, not that Mazel always expected him to.

  He went on. "I won't lie, it's kinda scary though; I have to actually shrink down to human size and actually walk around wild humans. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine me being around your size?"

  Daze, despite hearing about how his master would trick other humans and reduce himself to around his size, only gave a slow shake of the head.

  Mazel stopped petting Daze's head and reached into his pocket. He held up two wristbands, one thick and dark green and the other thin and neon pink. "With these, I can actually pull it off. I didn't know it was possible but I can! Its the pink one that'll handle nearly everything. I'll practically will be human sized!"

  Mazel looked at his pet expectantly, silently hoping for some significant reaction. When he received none, he gave a sad sigh and lowered him back to the floor. "Nevermind, I'm kind of talking to the wrong person aren't I? Alrighty then, go to your cage, there are some things I still have to arrange."

  Obediently, Daze walked to his silver-aligned cage situated between his desk and the corner and closed the door behind himself. He immediately walked to his small bed and lied down with a silent huff.

  Once his human went into his cage, Mazel grabbed his papers form his desk and spread them across the floor. There were detailed diagrams of the bracelets he was given, charts of human customs, previous files of qualifications, instructions, and other important files that outlined his given objective. It was almost too much to take in.

  Never did he think he would see the day that he would be one of the main actors in the Shenirian campaign; he would make his parents, friends and home proud. He would create a better future for the Shenirian race since they day they landed on Earth. He would help make those wild humans realize who they were dealing with, to show the foolishness of even thinking of opposing a species far above them. He thought he had no room for pride, but with a brief moment to take it all in, he realized that he could have at least a little.

  With that thought, he looked at the two bracelets and smiled, feeling a tad bit more confidant in his abilities to participate in the 38th Campaign.


	2. Old Treasure, New Hunters

Damian never really watched many cartoons. Even as a kid, he had usually spent his time outside to come back inside and track mud over the wooden floors or to swing from a tree branch like a monkey.

  It wasn't that he disliked cartoons either. Had his parents been one of the kind that would let their kids watch television, he would have probably known every cartoon and its schedule like his old best friend Rudy had. He wondered why his parents loathed cartoons as much as they did; was it that it lacked anything educational or something? Were they the kind that wanted their kids to be the outdoors-type of child who wouldn't become the future couch potato they always feared? Or did they just not like cartoons because they were cartoons? Whatever the reason, they had been keen to make sure he wouldn't spend a lot of time in front of the television and would passive-aggressively urge him to find some other activity which didn't include spending an hour in front of the television. Whether it included actual people or were documentaries, but they seemed to be particular when it came to cartoons; why they bought a television in the first place if they weren't going to use it seemed more like a proper question. So as a kid, he never really had the desire to watch one of those early Saturday seven o'clock episodes that all the kids in school would talk about the Monday of that next week.

  So when Will brought in a more than ancient, surprisingly intact CD to the surveillance room and the first thing he saw was the wacky hijinks of a cat and a dog on television, he didn't know whether to feel old for having something remotely reminiscent of his childhood displaying on screen, or that he was given the opportunity to feel young again and experience what it was like for others to watch an animated show that had might as well been new to those around him.

  Granted though, his colleague didn't allow him to go a single minute without a question about these shows.

  "So, I'm still trying to sort this all out. Back then, everyone had known what this was?" Will asked, the younger man propping up his feet on another chair.

  Damian took a sip of his room-temperature energy drink. He leaned and paused the show. "Yep."

  "But  _you_ didn't watch it much?"

  "Nope."

  "And this show is older than you, right?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "So, basically, a lot of old shows were like this."

  "Probably."

  Will felt a little annoyed by the few syllable answers. Putting one foot on the wall, he twirled his chair to face Damian. "Y'know, I'm not like interrogating you or anything like that. Kind of hoping something a bit more...descriptive than 'uh-huh' and 'nuh-uh' and all that. I need a definite answer. Not these stupid one word ones. Hell, I'm pretty sure those aren't actually English words."

  Damian sighed. "I told you I didn't watch that stuff before. How would I know what most of these cartoons were like? Ask Carly or John; they probably watched this crap back then."

  The show was paused on a part where the bulldog looked absolutely livid, his head as red as a tomato and steam coming form his ears. Damian took another sip from his drink and set the bottle down on the console while Will shifted in his seat.

  "This is stupid."

  "You wanted to watch it. You said one of the science geezers had it?"

  "The short guy, he lent it to me. Said he was making room in his office and saw it. He said whoever worked there before him owned the thing and probably left it."

  "Ah."

  Damian played the video again. Several more minutes in, he yawned and stood from his chair. "I'll watch it another time. I'm tired."

  "Is it boring you?"

  "Nah, I just got sleepy all the sudden, that's all."

  "C'mon, watch it with me for another five minutes."

  "I thought you said it was stupid."

  "Didn't say I wanted to stop watchin' though."

  "I don't wanna."

  "Please? I mean, it's not that long I think."

  Damian looked at the younger man and heavily sighed before returning to his seat. "It's like your watching a new movie or something."

  "Wish I could see those."

  "...Me too."

  Damian watched bits and pieces of the cartoon and wondered if he had been younger, would he have appreciated it a bit more. He glanced at Will who was looking at the show as if it really was a new movie. Damian considered him though; his friend was only nineteen, having been born a year after the Shenirian invasion. While Damian and some of the other staff had the chance to remember a time before aliens, paranoia, the missed opportunities to watch shows like this and all that jazz, Will only knew about keeping hidden from those titanic jackasses "upstairs," and dirt, rock and pictures of the former mundane. He probably wouldn't have the chance to been able to remember a single day of being able to go outside and not worry about being blasted into carbon or crushed underfoot.

  The privilege to watch shows like this that Damian had passed up as a kid was a rare spectacle Will was granted out of the very blue.

  That melancholy thought left his mind when the doors behind them slid open. A statuesque, blonde woman walked in, bread in one hand with a cup of water in the other.

  "Sup' Renny. You missed the beginning." Will said without looking behind him.  

  Renate, or rather "Renny," took another bite of bread in her hand and looked up at the screen. "So this is what you were talking about earlier."

  "Yeah," Will replied,  It's not like those award-winning prize kinda shows that everybody recommends, but Damian says it was popular back then." 

  Renate frowned and walked to the console. When Will realized what she was trying to do, he tried to stop her too late when she ejected the video from the slot. She held it up above his head and glared down at him. He glared back. "We were watching that!"

  "You're still on duty."

  "I told you about it!"

  "I didn't think you'd play it while on the job."

  " _Psh!_ It's only like an hour long. It's boring in here!"

  "Your job is to watch people and people only, not old shows."

  "...When you kind of say it like that...it makes it sound like my job is to stalk people."

  Renate gave a small slap upside Will's head. The teen let out a small cry and rubbed the sore spot. " _Geez_ woman! You have man hands or something. That hurt!"

  "I dare you to keep it up."

  Will snatched the CD right out of her hand and looked at it to see if it had gotten any scratches. "You're such a violent chick, you know that? Killjoy..."

  Renate didn't respond and turned to Will with a raised brow. "You went along with it? Thought you'd of all people would know better."

  "An hour doesn't hurt. Besides its kind of nostalgic...in a not so nostalgic way though."

  Renate looked at Damian for a moment and back to the CD in Will's hand. She let out a heavy sigh. "How about once the shift ends, we'll go to watch it with some food."

  Damian smiled, Will didn't.

  "So the moment you enter the room, we have to wait. I shouldn't have told you about it in the first place."

  Renate ignored the younger man and took a seat. She finished the bread in her hand and looked at the various screens of people walking around the outer bounds of the Checkpoints; it was mainly officers and technicians, surrounding themselves around the exits and radar jammers. They could hear yelling and laughter from the screens, but nothing that made any sense. Damian eyed the young yet serious woman before talking. "Renny, how old are you?"

  Renate turned to Damian's direction. "I'm twenty-four. What? Did that Morgan guy show up again to ask me out?"

  "No, nothing like that. I was just wondering, before the whole 'invasion' thing, did you watch cartoons?"

  Renate had to think for a moment before speaking. "Only some toddler show, nothing else. What show were you guys watching anyway?"

  "Warner's something or other. It's like several shows in one. I dunno. I just didn't know how much you would be able to remember."

  Renny didn't seemed to be bothered by the question. "I don't remember too much. I remember Mom and Dad, and coming here but not much before that really." 

  Will held the CD back up in the air. "Then you should try to rejoin Damian here on memory lane and watch this show with us."

  Damian frowned. "What 'memory lane?' Neither of us really watched it before."

  "You know, about watching things besides people back then and all that jizzy jazz."

  Before Damian could respond with an insult, the CB Radio came to life as a crackled voice came through.  ** _"Eastern quarters to Base, Eastern to Base: Please respond immediately."_**

Damian leaned forward and grabbed the microphone. "Base to Eastern, report."

  There was some static on the other side before the reply came in.  ** _"...ple...sp...repeat, please view above ground monitors; we have detected nine outsiders."_**

Damian blinked. For a brief moment, he thought he had heard wrong, but doubted it.

  Before Damian could, Will had closed the monitor of the eastern border and quickly changed the view to the above ground monitors. 

  On the screen, almost nothing appeared, as the cameras were set high enough for Shenirian detection. However, as the three looked more closely to the monitor, they noticed several small figures, slowly walking forward as like wary travelers.

  "...People? Like...actual other humans?" Will wandered aloud. "What _...how..._ are they like, Shenirians close by?"

  Damien pulled up all of the outside monitors and examined them closely. "No, I don't see anyone else, Shenirian or any of their drones."

  Renate took the microphone from Damien's hand. "This is Renate Kaufmann, subdirectory chief of the Central Base Surveillance. What proximity are they within?"

**_"They are estimated to be...iles...ch...iles..."_ **

  "Repeat."

**_"Three miles northwest of the Eastern border...Requesting permission to send a reconnaissance squad."_ **

  Renate looked back at the screen than spoke into the microphone. "Granted. If they are non-hostile, have them go through entry procedures and bring them to Base. I will have the Director notified immediately."

   ** _"Over."_**

  The transmission shut off, and Renate put the receiver back in place.

   The three eyed the monitors as the group of nine continued to walk forward, probably unaware that they had been spotted.

   There hadn't been new outsiders in  _years._ After the city had been established in record time, people had came by and large; almost too much to support the sheer influx of panicked crowds rushing in. At the time, there was too little resources, too many people; it didn't take long for the bodies to pile up. Damien remembered a few of his high school friends had been amongst those bodies. He remembered the burning of the corpses; and how there wasn't a trace of the ashes of hundreds of bodies that next day. As time went on, there would be small surviving groups that would come in by the weeks, then months, then mere individuals and stragglers that would come once every year or so. After eight years, there were no more people that showed up anymore. Until now, Damien believed that there weren't anymore humans, well sane humans, capable of wandering around the East coast without being spotted by Shenirians without being either captured or disposed of; he believed that they might as well be the only humans left in all of whatever was left of the States.  

  There was a long silence amongst the three individuals in the room.

   Will coughed and leaned back in his chair. "Well, damn! Screw the show, we're gonna have a party!"

 

\----- 

 

  "W-w-we're going above ground?" One of the scouts asked, her voice come out in a jittery whisper. She grabbed the small scrambler from the table, her shaking hands nearly dropping it onto the floor.

  One of the other scouts, who was infinitely calmer than the short raven-haired newbie, merely attached his own scrambler to his belt and grabbed one of the guns from a parallel table. "How else our we going to meet up with those outsiders? They said there was no Shenirian detected. If they're just human, then we have nothing to worry about."

  Gale looked at the slightly older scout, eyes darting back and forth to the Elevator. "I know, I know, its just...it's the  _'outside'_  and...y-you know."

  Carter couldn't suppress the level of spite rising up in him. "If you think you can't handle it, then take it up to head!"

  The girl flinched, but managed to regain a small bit of her composure. "I...I didn't say I couldn't handle it, it's just..."

  A new voice came in, "If you're having doubts, then you can stay here. Just ten of us should be fine."

  Both Gale and Carter looked at the speaker; it was one of the older members, Jessie or something like that, who walked up to Gale and looked down. "You're way to fresh to be here anyway. Those like you who haven't seen the outside before probably aren't suited to go up."

  What should've sounded incredibly rude and insulting had been phrased in the way that it had been just a matter of fact. Carter felt a bit disheartened too; having spent most of his life in Haven, he hadn't seen the outside either. Jessie seemed to have that nonchalant aura that came off as nearly apathetic. Maybe it was just how his tone seemed to never change or how he always had this defeated look about him; he just seemed to be mainly a guy who spoke his mind as bluntly or unhindered as possible.

  Feeling more than a little indignant, Gale spoke up, her initial nervousness seemingly having vanished. "I'm ready; there is no need keep me down here. No worries."

  Jessie stood their for a moment before grabbing a scrambler off the table. He was the last to receive his and two non-participators brought the table inside the Eastern base, doors closing behind them.

  Taking a small gulp of nervousness, Gale put her gun in the holster on her leg.

  She never believed that she would be one of the ones to go above ground; she never had the desire to after hearing of the many dangers of going up there. She was going to go headfirst into the deep-end. For as long as she could remember, Haven had been her entire world. Sure, she heard of the many places that were there before the invasion, but they seemed more like fairytales, or rather forbidden zones that humans were not allowed to traverse again. The thought that those places were now inhabited by legions of giant aliens that would kill anyone else here on sight...it was more than terrifying. While she never had seen the Sherinians, the stories of them dissecting live people and killing them was something they'd tell bad children to behave; not the reality that she was going to face.

  "Alright!"

  Gale nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Lt. Richard Bates, the leader of her squad speak.

  "We are now going to enter the Elevator to above-ground. Make sure that your scrambler is intact and working. If any of them are not activated when we are above ground, there is a strong possibility that we will come under Sherinian radar. We will surround the individuals, but if none show any hostile intent, do not pull out your guns. I will question them and we will escort them to Haven. Is that clear?"

  He was answered with a chorus of "Yes sirs" and "Crystal." With stern dark eyes, he turned towards the direction of the titanic tower that stretched high above. "Then let us board the Elevator to above ground."

  The scouts aligned; Gale ended up finding herself right behind Carter, who seemed to tense up when they began to move forward.

  When they reached the immense pillar, the first thing that Gale noticed was that the width of the pillar was wider than her own dwelling. It was sleek, yet covered in dust and some dirt. It easily topped the heights of the skyscrapers she saw in the older books and magazines. The lieutenant nodded at the three guards that stood in front of the gate. Moving aside, one of the guard opened a panel on the left side of the pillar.

  When the doors opened, Gale saw the immensity of the interior of the platform. It was easily large enough to house a hundred people. It probably did when it was first made.

  They walked inside, stepping onto the grated and scuffed floor. Gale looked back just in time to see the last scout come inside and for the doors to shut. A feeling of dread overcame her instantly.

  With a jolt, a loud whirring sound filled the platform. The young girl felt on the verge of panic.  _"I should have stayed, I should have stayed, I should have stayed..."_ she mentally screamed, finding herself shivering with fear, something she couldn't quell no matter how hard she tried. She was so scared that she didn't even look around to see if she was the only one.

  And then it lifted.  

  The mantra in her head sped up as she balled up the side of her pants. She watched as the ground, the guards and the buildings got further and further by the second as the platform lifted higher and higher. After several hundred feet, the platform entered a tunnel, the only light being the two bulbs at in the ceiling of the room.

  She closed her eyes and only hoped that the surface wouldn't be as bad as she was thinking it to be.


	3. Encounter

It had been a full seven minutes before Gale felt the elevator begin to slow to a crawl. The entire time, they rose in utter, impenetrable silence. She slowly began to open her eyes as the lights on the ceiling of the platform turned off, the tunnels widening before reaching a metal bay.

The others of her squad had been standing still, most having experienced going to the surface before; she was one out of two who never had. She briefly glanced at Carter, who paid her no mind, but with his eyes watching the older scouts prepare themselves for the outside. He briefly glanced behind himself, locking eyes on her for a split second before looking back forward.

The elevator soon screeched to a halt. Light flooded in from the glass doors in front of her; she and the others had to shield their eyes for a moment as the darkness of the tunnel left them unaccustomed to the sudden brightness. The sound of the auxiliary turbines filled the platform as the doors opened.

"Alright," Lt. Bates yelled, grabbing the attention of his subordinates, "Do not break formation until we encounter the group. If any of them show any signs of hostility, force can be applied. Now, move out."

Lt. Bates turned around and marched outside, the line following behind him after three steps. Gale gulped when she began to move forward, fear gripping her more than ever before. After a few seconds, she took her first step from the metal platform to the grassy, dirt road.

The very first thing she noticed was the amount of various foliage on all sides of her. There was more green than she had ever seen in her life. The grass that she had seen in the books and videos were a bit higher than they were depicted, but they were nonetheless the same thin, green droopy spikes that she recognized from those sources. The trees around her were of various heights, many ranging from twice to size to as tall as some buildings. Some even had to rival the sheer size of the Shenirians, who she had been told ranged from about seventy to ninety or a hundred feet according to everyone, if not a few being even  _taller._  The next thing she noticed was the sky. It was blue and higher than anything she ever had seen. The Haven's ceiling was about three hundred feet height, give or take a few; it seemed high to her but compared to the expanse of blue in the air, it seemed almost tangible. Birds, not the ones in pictures or videos or those mentioned in books, but real-life  _birds_ flew way overhead, soaring through that expanse of blue much further than she could see from below.

In that moment, her fear had dwindled into pure awe at the sight of a world she had never seen before. Her eyes were wide and full of renewed wonder that she hadn't felt in many years.

This was what was above ground?

It seemed unbelievable and spectacularly different from the underground world she had spent her entire life.

It was considerably warmer above ground, as she felt herself begin to grow a bit heated from the gaze of the sun. Wearing the heavy jacket she always wore underground outside the buildings didn't help in the matter. The natural warmth was a strange phenomenon, one she inanely thought she could get used to.

  A tap from her shoulder made her jump out of her awed gaze of the world.

  "You need to focus ahead." The soldier behind her whispered, his voice hiding the tiniest bits of annoyance.

  Gale immediately faced forward, tearing her eyes away from the sky. "Right, sorry." The scout didn't respond as they moved ahead.

  She felt a bit childish and more than inadequate for losing sight of the reason she was above ground in the first place. The lack of military discipline some of the other scouts had and experience the rest had had seemed to set her behind. Had there been more willing people to want to become a scout, she was pretty sure she would have never been able to even become one.

"I just...it's so cool..."

  A hush from behind made her close her mouth.

If there any time she had to show anything that looked remotely like discipline, it was now.

She kept her thoughts of the outside world to herself and kept in step with the line.

Despite not showing any reaction outwardly, Carter had heard everything from behind. He curbed his shock and awe as they went forward.

He had been just as amazed as Gale, and probably would have reacted just like her had she not been the first to gasp, which ironically reminding himself to act more composed. It was his first time outside a world of stone, brick, and metal and into a world of dirt, grass and wood. The very composition of the air was foreign to him as many strange different scents filled his nostrils. This place, he reminded himself, was where humans had once freely walked about and experienced on a day-to-day basis.

And it was now Shenirian territory.

That very thought wiped out any notions of veneration he had for this world.

He was in the world that had became the property of an alien race. The chances he would have to venture to the surface like this would always be limited. Had there been any of the giant beings within distance, he was pretty sure that this very place of natural beauty would be his grave. The very thought chilled him to his core.

Suddenly feeling more frustrated at the unfairness of it all, he curled his hands into fists.

Meet the bastards and return to the Haven, he reminded himself. If all went well, there would be no trouble, it would be just an "in and out" process. 

He continued to walk forward, his growing dejection a contrast to the joyful surroundings of the land.

It had taken quite some time for his hands to stop shaking.

 

\-----

 

They had walked for some time.

 _"Exactly, how far were those cameras set?"_ Carter thought to himself.

They had just gotten on a narrow street made of cement. The blonde didn't know if much time had passed or if the amount of anxiety he was feeling made it seem that time was moving slower than usual.

 Probably the latter, he thought as the group continued to move forward.

He peaked back to look at Gale, whose excitement seemed to be properly contained. Although he had been in the squad for only a couple months longer than her, he felt a bit more at ease that he wasn't the only person who was a bit more out of the loop. He didn't like her all that much; however, despite them being the closest in age and experience. It wasn't her attitude so much as she reminded him of himself with a bit less self-composure; some of the squad members already saw her as a millstone around their necks. He definitely didn't want to be seen the same way, and he'd make sure he wouldn't be. 

Gale suddenly looked up, making eye contact with the boy. They looked at each other, caught in an awkward staring contest before Carter averted his eyes. After a few seconds, he heard her speak.

"So, um..." she started, her voice quiet and nervous, "...is this your first time too right? I mean, you've never seen all this right?"

Carter didn't say anything; Trying to start up a conversation with her seemed didn't really seem all that appealing. Especially when everyone was quiet. It wasn't that they weren't  _allowed_  to talk, at least when they were out of earshot of anything that could hear them, just that it seemed no one else felt like talking all that much.

When she didn't get a response, the girl tried again. "Y'know, I was nervous too at first. You seemed kind of on edge too, so I can totally understand. You'd think the lieutenant would give more of a heads up to what it was like up here."

He ignored her again. He'd wonder how long it would take for her to realize that he wasn't open for small talk at the moment.

She looked around, not quite sure what to do with herself. "Um, my parents said that they used to live in a city, so they never really, you know, been around that much plant life. My mom said that she would have allergies and things of the like. So she didn't-" 

 _"There they are!"_ One of the scouts yelled, pointing ahead.

Everyone looked far ahead.

Just like in the report, there were nine silhouettes moving towards them, seemingly oblivious of the crew. They were moving at a relatively slow pace; Carter realized that the cameras must have been sent a couple miles away from the Haven's entrance.

"Alright!" Lt. Bates yelled, "Surround them at once!  Make sure none of them are armed!"

Breaking out of formation, everyone sprinted forward. Carter grabbed the handle of his gun in preparation.

The incoming group finally seemed to notice them and froze in their descent down the hill. When the scouts were a hundred feet a way, the entire group seemed to turn tail and run the way they came.

"Wait!" Lt. Bates yelled, "Stop where you are! We aren't here to kill you!"

The nine figures seemed to have heard him and slowed down. The scouts managed to catch up to the group and immediately formed a circle around them; ten scouts around nine individuals that seemed more out of place than ever.

Carter looked at the nine people in the group. They all had to be in their late teens; none of them looked a day over twenty. They were all wearing similar clothes: worn jeans and t-shirts, some with jackets over them and some without. It was seven boys, two girls. The first thing he noticed was that one of the girls had short, bright red hair and large green eyes that were wide with fright. The other had long brown hair that reached her back and was pulled into a messy ponytail, her mouth formed into a tight frown. The first boy that was closest to him had to be a good six-feet tall; he had spiky, blond hair with rather vicious blue eyes that seemed to be eyeing him suspiciously. The significantly shorter boy next to him had very short black hair with somewhat less wary dark eyes. While he couldn't make out the faces of the boys facing away from him, he could see the scruffy light brown hair they both seemed to share. The one closest to Gale had messy, dark brown hair that reached his neck with yellowish-green hazel eyes. The boy facing the Lt had dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes behind a pair of glasses; he seem the most apprehensive of the bunch, his eyes darting to and fro at the surrounding scouts. The last boy wore a dark blue cap over his brown hair, his eyes shadowed from the hood from Carter's vantage point.

The boy with the cropped black hair was the first to raise his hands above his head in surrender; the others followed in suit after a few seconds. "You won't kill us, huh? Are you going to rob us and take all we have instead?" he asked, his voice full of venom.

Lt. Bates didn't falter. "This is just a precaution in the event that any of you had less than noble intentions. You don't attack, we don't attack."

The boy spat, "We're just looking for a place to hide. We don't have anything of value, just the clothes off our backs. Just let us go."

"You can put your arms down. We're not here to rob you or hurt you," Lt. Bates replied, "In fact, according to a report we were given, you are the first humans to be spotted in our cameras in years."

The dark haired boy lifted an eyebrow. "Cameras?"

Lt. Bates motioned behind himself. "Before we tell you anything just yet, how exactly did you get here?"

The teens seemed to look at each other for a moment, wondering who was the one to speak. The girl with the ponytail spoke up, her voice low and level. "We...we escaped from a research facility. There were seven more of us, but we got separated."

Carter frowned.

So they were  _experiments_? Live experiments that were put through God only knows kind of tests that Shenirians came up? Exactly what did they go through? Did they actually escape before anything happened? How did they escape? And  _how_  did they wander this far from Shenirian territory without detection? 

"Do you know if any of you were equipped with trackers?" Lt. Bates asked. Carter remembered being told by a past scout of an incident in the past of tagged humans; according to him, had they not been heavily corroded enough for disposal by the days of rain, most likely the Haven would have been no more. It was understandable for Lt. Bates to be on guard, he guessed.

The girl shook her head, "No! We weren't! Honest! You can search us!"

Lt. Bates stared at them and then reached into his pocket. He took out a small rod, a metal detector Carter realized, and walked towards the girl. She lifted it above her head and then slowly ran it down inches away from her body. There was barely any reaction as the girl stood as still as possible and aside from the static sounds coming from the device, there was no "beeps" or anything if the sort.

The older man placed it in his pocket with a nod before signaling for the other scouts to back away from the group. "Alright, I guess you aren't, and chances are neither are the rest of you."

The boy with glasses took a deep breathe, as the others of sighed out of relief.

"You guys have to come to the right place," Lt. Bates said, his voice now more amicable, less terse and more casual than Carter could ever remember, "I'm actually surprised you all managed to get this far. We thought that the time for any newcomers had been long gone. I'm Lieutenant Richard Bates; we're scouts that were sent to fetch you guys. We're from the underground. There is food, water and other humans down there. We'll supply you with whatever you need if you decide to come with us."

It was the tall blonde boy that spoke. "And what will you do if we refuse?"

"We can't risk any Shenirians finding out about our refuge unfortunately," Lt. Bates replied, the harshness of his tone returning full force, "Even if you choose to never tell them, there's always a chance that you guys would be caught and forced to reveal anything about our whereabouts. We can't let that happen."

Carter's eyes widened. He did not like those implications. The thought of having to use his gun on fellow innocent humans this early on began to make him regret ever joining the scouts.

Fortunately, it never came to that as the boy with cropped hair conceded. "Fine, we'll come along with you guys. No need for anyone to die here today. If this is your idea of a welcoming committee, then you got a lot to work on."

"We're sorry," Lt. Bates apologized, "We can't afford any compromise given the situation. We can assure you that we're not out for blood or anything. Trust me, we promise you that you are not our prisoner. We'll fill you in more once we take you to base."

And with a motion of his hand, Lt. Bates signaled for his fellow scouts to follow him leading the group back the way we came. While they made sure to walk behind the new group, in the event they were more hostile than they appeared, there was a certain calmness that seem to envelope the group. Nothing bad had happened and so far, everything was going relatively smoothly.

Carter finally let out the breathe he was holding since the encounter and looked at the sky, wandering if this one going to either be one of the very few times he would see it or, if there would be no more newcomers, his last.


	4. New Faces

The trip back to the platform was silent and seemed considerably quicker than the trip to find a group of vagabonds who miraculously managed to get as far as they did in the first place.

  It had became uncomfortably hot for Gale under the jacket, having walked who knows how far to reach a band of former experiments.

   _Experiments..._

  That thought disturbed her.

  While none of them outright stated it, it didn't take a genius to realize that that was what they were... _had_ been. She heard the stories of many humans during the Shenirians' initial "arrival" being snatched up left and right, and many always speculated that they were used for... _research,_  but it was only until now from the words of newcomers that she realized that the stories were true. The fact that now, twenty years after their conquest of Earth, there were still humans around to be experimented on. Exactly how many people may have died in the name of veiled science? Were they cut up? Starved? Injected with various needles filled with whatever concoctions and chemicals that had who knows what effects on them? The frightening thought of how they managed to  _supply_  the humans came to mind, and she felt more than disgusted.

  How long had they been wandering out here? Gale didn't know the exact details but she was pretty sure that they had to have been travelling for days, even  _weeks_ by foot to get as far away from Shenirian territory to here. And even more shocking, without any outside, working un-hacked communication devices, the Haven should have been near impossible to even locate; the fact that these people managed to come across the area without knowing was nothing short of a miracle.

  She couldn't help but stare at all of the new faces; every last one of them had to be around her age at least. After the exchange between Lt. Bates, they were understandably bitter and untrusting; she wondered if exactly how many people were at that research facility for them to not be too shocked to come across more humans. According to the girl with the ponytail, there were seven more in their group, and probably much more in wherever they were from. How they got separated, she didn't know, and she hoped to find out once they returned back underground.

  It was a very quiet walk back to the platform; the newcomers were too wary to say anything and the rest of the scouts either found no need to speak, or that it wasn't a time to speak.

  She'd have to curb her curiosity until they reached the platform it seemed.

 

\----- 

  Brian Jasper Bates III was a twenty-something year old man in the army when he had just been promoted to the rank of lieutenant just two weeks before the Shenirian invasion twenty years ago. Joining the army was a decision his mother wasn't too proud of, and one his father was more than ready to celebrate with wine and whiskey for the whole family. It would become routine whenever her returned home for him to hang out with his family, spend time with his girlfriend of three years, and drink until morning before waking up with a severe hangover. 

  It was the an afternoon when he saw the entire sky filled with alien airships. Time had slowed down to nanoseconds as they began to land on the ground, surrounding the entirety of New York City.

  When they had arrived to what was once a metropolitan titan amongst the cities of America, it was only then that he truly realized the sheer gravity of the situation.

  Glass, rubble and ashes rained down on the ground of countless bodies on the cracked streets of NYC, the air quiet of any chatter from the millions of people that would traverse to and fro from the work, school, businesses...it had become a phantom of what it used to be. 

  He remembered the sun shining bright above the falling buildings and rising smoke.

  He remembered his group being ambushed by a couple Shenirians, two giants who were more than big enough to take on twenty two men in his platoon.

  He remembered seeing one of his drinking buddies have his life snuffed right out under an enormous boot.

  He remembered every shot, every blast, every strike being repelled like nothing, their armor and shields being more than capable of protecting them from bullets to RPG missiles.

  He remembered two of his men being reduced to nothing but carbon under the blast of a single laser.

  He remembered some of his men screaming as they were thrown about like ragdolls in the hands of the giants who were more like sadistic children than anything else.

  And most of all, he remembered his helplessness to save a single life, of any civilian or his own soldiers and being the sole survivor of the entire platoon, his fear once he realized that those very giants saw them as nothing more than insects, and his cowardice when he was forced to turn tail from the corpses of his fallen comrades; to be forced to flee as far away from the losing defense forces he dedicated his life for, the burning city he was raised in, and any semblance of the former life he had taken for granted before.

 How he managed to get as far as he did, he didn't know.

  When he had reached the Haven after a year and a half of dodging Shenirian detection like a mouse, he had looked much older than he should have; sunken eyes and scraggly facial hair he thought he never could grow back then as a teenager...he almost didn't recognize himself. He remembered one of the people who found him saying that he looked like a wild animal in pants. What he had expected what the trials of war which should have caused, it was nothing more than trying to stay out of the sight of giants that  _almost_ looked like the people he would have protected.

  Being one of the few with actual military experience, he, as well as a few remnants of what was left of the US army, decided that pulling their own weight would only be natural the moment they stepped foot inside the underground, maintaining order and aiding those who could barely help themselves.

  When he signed up to be the "fetcher" for other survivors, a sense of hope filled him. He was given the chance to correct his mistake in the past, having been unable to save any lives before but now given a second chance.

  While this group of teenagers may not have been the first group he "fetched," it was the first in a long, long time. Despite them being fellow humans, he had learned to remain cautious to some level after an incident with an armed group had occurred; it was a triad of men and not one of them were able to come to the underground...or live to tell about it to any Shenirians they may have come across should they have come across any.

  This group seemed relatively harmless, having nothing it seemed but the clothes off their backs. It seemed innocuous enough to bring them back like he did so many other survivors.

  So exactly  _why_ was he getting a bad feeling about this?

  Lt. Bates looked back at the young survivors who walked behind him, surrounded by the other scouts. While he wasn't surprised to be glared at by a few of them, especially given the precautionary relay he gave them, there was a sense of...purpose in the eyes of the tall, blonde boy. As if he had expectantly been waiting for this encounter. It was suspicious. He wondered for a moment if it was just him, having been years since seeing new faces. Intuition was a fickle thing at times, and he didn't know when it was a good time to follow it up.

  They finally reached the Elevator's platform, the glass walls reflecting brightly against the dirt and grass surrounding it

  The faces of the young survivors turned into awe as the doors opened to a gigantic platform. It was then that Bates felt the need to speak.

  "We will be taking you to one of the, if not only, safe points for humanity. You will be briefed more on the situation and what we expect of you once we reach the bottom. We ask that all of you abide by our way to remain here. We'll see to it that you'll be treated respectfully down there," Lt. Bates stated, turning to his team of fellow scouts and then nodding. "You may enter the lift."

  The pitter-patter of twenty pairs of feet echoed within the platform. The doors shut behind the last scout after ten seconds and began its descent.

  Gale had taken that opportunity to keep looking up until she could no longer see the sun, the grass, and the dirt road they had taken back.

  A tinge of melancholy appeared in the back of her mind when she realized that these instances of seeing above the ground would be limited and merely occasional. At the same time; however, she felt elated that she managed to help several more kids her age keep out of the radar of the monsters that had previously had them in captivity. She earnestly hoped to get to know them. She had so many questions to ask each and every last one of them, if they were willing to listen.

  As the lift continued its descent back down, she couldn't help but think of who would be the first she'd introduce herself to.

 

\----- 

 

  When they finally reached the bottom of the Elevator, the group of nine were immediately brought to the Eastern Base.

  The building lacked any decorations of any kind; whatever was there seemed to serve of a more practical use. It looked to be designed more like a prison, without the bars or the orange suits.

  The newcomers sat on two benches, five on one and four on the other. Carter and the other scouts waited at the entrance of the base as Lt. Bates stood in front of them, giving them a cursory glance.

  The door on the other side of the room opened, and in walked a short, wisp of a man that had to have been old enough to been a grandfather

   He was dressed in a black turtleneck shirt and trousers, his thin wiry hair was loosely clinging to his head and he had countless wrinkles on his face. In a stark contrast to his elderly appearance, his eyes were a bright green which gleamed with intelligence under the fluorescent lights above.   
  
  "I am Davis Harrington," he said, his voice startling deep and crisp, "I am the current lead overseer of the Eastern base and have been since it was first established. I'll get right to the chase."   
  
  Instinctively, Lt. Bates pulled in a metal chair for the older man, who instantly sat in it. "You are the first 'visitors' we've had in nearly eight years since the establishment of this place. For fellows humans like yourselves to be able to come across this place on your own after we could no longer use phones or radio stations or anything of the like...the chances are astronomical. While we are more than prepared to answer any questions you may have for us, you must understand that we have many questions to ask you."   
  
  Lt. Bates signaled for five of his men to enter and stand by Mr. Harrington's side. Mr. Harrington nodded before looking back at the teens, whose suspicion hadn't left them since the outside encounter. "Since you are already here, we'll fill you in first. Welcome to the Haven. This place is made up of survivors from the invasion that happened twenty years ago. From what I've been told, you were experiments for Shenirian facility, so I'm not sure you all are aware of the circumstances...are you?"   
  
  They looked at each other; it was the boy with the very short black hair that spoke up for the group. "Yes sir. We're aware. They, um...the other older experiments told us what happened."   
  
  "Good," Mr. Harrington stated, "Well that saves an explanation of that. In any case, this place was under-construction before the attack. It originally was supposed to be an underground mega-mall actually. Or that's what my grandchild had told me long ago. It has a new purpose now: to house and shield us humans here from Shenirian detection."

He paused.

 "And so far, we've been successful...and expect to remain that way for years to come. There are probably around two-thousand residents here in this area alone, twenty-thousand or so in the entirety of the Haven; some are survivors of the attack, and some the children of these survivors. If there are any hideouts for humans out there, we haven't been able to contact them." 

  Carter stood there a few feet away from the elderly man and the teens before him. He tried to imagine seeing another place like this; as huge and spacious as it was. It the place had been long expanded beyond simple mega-mall proportions to accommodate the growing populations, but it had its basis before the invasion, from what he had been told. The chances of finding other successful hiding areas seemed unlikely, especially after several years had gone by.

  
  Mr. Harrington's eyes became stony as he brought out his wrinkled hand, his first three fingers up.   
  
  "We have several rules around here but there are a few that you all must never forget. "One..."   
  
  He motioned to the outside of the facility and to the window, where two-story tall metal gates stood. "...Do not leave unannounced to any of the bases. Only in the case of emergency will we be able to have the doors open for everyone. This applies mainly to you guys who are still new and will remain under our radar for a little bit."   
  
  "Two: Do not attack, kill, or steal while you are here. Violence or blatant injustice will not be tolerated here. We will supply whatever you need, therefore, you should not have any need to be able to resort to any foul play here. If you do any of these things without good reason, you will be executed on the spot. And three..."   
  
  Mr. Harrington looked deeply into the eyes of the group, unnerving the group even more than they thought possible.   
  
  "Do not, under any circumstances, use the Elevator without any clearance."   
  
  The group looked out of the glass doors at the huge pillar of steel that rose higher than any structure they ever saw.   
  
  "This is our main way out should anything ever happen to the Haven. While we do have stairs and other emergency exits, the Elevator is our main and quickest way to the surface. Usually, only the reconnaissance squad and authorized personnel only able to use it. While it requires codes to activate it, there have been suicidal people who had tried to hack it and get back to the surface. This isn't a rule that we treat lightly," his eyes narrowed, "Not that the others are treated that way either. Is that understood?"   
  
  There was a series of nods and "Yes sirs," from the group. Dr. Harrington looked at them for a moment, and then smiled. "Very good, now than...if you would kindly give me your names..."   
  
  The elder man motioned towards the short-haired boy at the very end, who flinched when all eyes fell on him. "My name...my name's Ulysses."   
  
  The girl with the red hair spoke up next. "I'm Carol."   
  
  The first boy with brown hair spoke next, Carter realized that the boy next to him may have been his brother since looked very much alike. "I'm Nick, and this is Nigel." The boy motioned to the other beside him, who nodded affirmatively.   
  
  The tall blonde boy looked more than hesitant to speak, but he did. "...I'm Silas."   
  
  The smaller, bespectacled blonde answered after him, "My name's Joseph."  
  
  The girl with the ponytail next to him rubbed her arm nervously. "Jessica."   
  
  The boy with the hat sighed. "I'm John."   
  
  The last boy, with the hazel eyes spoke. "I'm Matthew. Or Matt. I'll respond to either."    
  
  Mr. Harrington's smile widened. "We're off to a good start. Since it seems you all are comfortable with first name basis, then I'll address you as such. Now then, before I begin questioning you. Do you have any questions for us? Depending on some questions, we may not be able to answer each and every last one of them, but we will try."    
  
  There was a pause, then the blonde, the one called Silas, raised his hand. "What are we supposed to do down here? You brought us to this place without any damn choice, and expect us to just adhere to everything you want us to do? What the hell?"   
  
  Mr. Harrington didn't seemed phased at all when the boy spoke, in what could only be but a restrained shriek. "Forgive us for our...tactics. Consider it protocol for us to usually bring in people spotted above. If any of you had remained above ground and were discovered by a Shenirian, there is a large possibility that they would trace back the path to here. While this incident hasn't happened here, it used to happen years ago in other places in which he humans would have thought to have been safe. There are too many lives at stake here for anyone to be permitted to pass us in that instance." 

  Silas growled, but said nothing. 

  The girl with red hair, Carol, rose her hand next after a few seconds. "Readdressing Silas's first question. What are we expected to do here? I'm pretty sure that we're not to just sit here and play games all day." 

   "You're exactly right," Mr. Harrington responded cheerfully, "This entire place would have never been able to function if no one did anything. For now, you have a week to think about where you'll want to be stationed. We all have to do something to keep this place up and running... and hidden. After we question you, we'll see to it that you'll have something productive for you to pass the time." 

   After a few more seconds, Matt raised his hand. "Um, I know it sounds silly but may I go to the bathroom?" 

   Mr. Harrington's face filled with mirth and he let out a light chuckle. "Yes, you may. It is in the next corridor." He tilted to his head to the left. 

   Matt nodded in gratitude as he got up. He bumped into Carter, and gave a small apology before going into the bathroom; the eyes of the scouts and Dr. Harrington behind him. Dr. Harrington gave a wary glance to two of the scouts and they nodded in understanding. They walked to the bathroom door and waited on both sides of it, waiting for the boy to come out. 

 

 -----  

 

  "Matt" didn't need to use the bathroom at all. In fact, all he needed was a quiet, secluded space not only get his nerves together on all the events that were happening at once, but to collect himself for what he was about to do next.

   It was only two stalls inside, and one sink. As an added impulse for security, he went into one of the stalls and listened for any sound on the side. With the door closed behind him, and the confirmation he was by himself, he brushed the hair beside his ear aside and pressed a tiny button behind the lobe. 

  His eyes glowed a bright green as a holographic image of his commanding officer appeared in front of his eyes, his face stoic yet expectant. 

    _ **"This is First Lieutenant Signus. Report."**_   The figure said, in smooth Shenirian.

   In his native language, "Matt" answered. "This is Private Mazel. The initial phase of infiltration has been successful. The next phase is about to commence." 


	5. Threads and Seams

_ Twelve hours prior  _

_"Alright...let's try this out one more time..."_

With an excited grin, Mazel put on the ringlet, for the first time outside of training. He had two hours until they would be deployed; they would be transported as close to their location without detection.

They rehearsed scenario after scenario, ranging from "making human friends," to "infiltrating core areas;" and he was pretty confident that the glowing bracelet on his wrist, so long as the humans accept their "excuses," that the entire operation should run smoothly, no matter the circumstances...hopefully.

The moment the ringlet tightened itself on his wrist, he felt a tingle run down his entire body before watching the formerly familiar world spin.

The furniture in his room began to rise higher and higher, with the ceiling getting so much further, it seemed as though he was looking up at a beige sky. The walls receded further and further from one another as he dwindled down in height, rising higher and further away. The chair next to him seemed taller than his home way up north had been, the legs of the chair now steel pillars that rose a couple stories above his head. His relatively small bed seemed to span longer than most buildings, and was at the very least as high as a four-story one. One of the files on the floor he had once held in his hand was now large enough to be a tarp for him to stand on and walk about had he chosen to do so.

In just as little as ten seconds, he had been reduced to human size, and now saw what his pet human had been seeing his entire life. He wished his human was here instead of with his sister; she had anxiously agreed to watch over him while he was on his mission. It would have been nice to be able compare his human height to the small boy, who saw an even bigger world. He didn't know if they would let him keep the ringlet after the operation, but he hoped so.

He turned around and looked at the door, which now seemed more impenetrable and daunting than it had any right to be. In just a couple hours, he would have to spend several months at this height to successfully infiltrate a supposed human populace. While he was pretty sure that the humans would have the things they need of course at the scale needed, there would be something inherently... _weird_  about it all. Well, weirder than it already was.

"It'll be like walking among rodents..." Mazel thought aloud, his fingers lightly tugging on the ringlet.

After another minute or two, he pressed a button on the side of his ringlet, allowing it to loosen on his wrist and expand.

He grew back to normal size in half the time it took to shrink. The monuments around him returned to furniture and the dimensions of his room returned from that of a stadium to a small room for himself.

 _"Good thing this isn't the barracks,"_ he thought; he never would have been able to test out the ringlet on his own. At least without danger of ending up underfoot of another Shenirian, or be mistaken for a runaway human subject or pet. That would be pretty damn scary.

He had more than enough time left to try out his the matter-manipulators again. But he decided that he wanted the next time to be his "true" experience. 

A frown appeared on his face.

That is...if the wild humans weren't as savage as to kill them before they could even get the chance to enter

 

\----- 

_Present Day_

 

 

  ** _"Have there been any incidents?"_**

"No," Mazel answered as quietly as possible, "The humans were wary. They still are. We were given no choice but to follow them."

Lt. Signus's mouth formed into a grimace,  _ **"Nonetheless, if no suspicion has been aroused to the operation, then proceed as followed."**_

"We are being briefed on the humans in this underground. We will have more to report afterwards."

_**"Very well. Proceed."** _

And in less than a second, the hologram vanished.

Mazel wasn't the only one who needed to report, but he had been designated the first to. More than likely, or rather if everything goes planned, he might be able to say more once the humans did...whatever they needed to do. While they were suspicious and somewhat on edge, they didn't seem hostile. Just careful. He was genuinely grateful that the worst case scenario didn't happen: all nine of them being shot and killed on sight. Or, if they were starved enough,  _eat_ them. So far, the "experiments" excuse seemed to work; they had seemed a bit more sympathetic. He wondered what other alternatives could work...or if they needed any at all.

 _"Well...at least that's out of the way..."_ Mazel thought as his eyes simmered back to their hazel-brown color.

Mazel gave one more cursory glance of the bathroom. He was about to leave until he remembered to signify that he had to...do his business.

He flushed the toilet closest to him and pretended he needed to wash his hands.

\-----

 

Carter watched Matt come out the bathroom. He seemed taken aback that two larger men were on both sides of the doorway, but after an "Excuse me," they moved back to their positions near Mr. Harrington. The elder man gave a whimsical smile and nodded.

"Any morequestions?" Mr. Harrington asked, his eyes glazing over to Matt as he took his seat, looking a tad uneasy.

Joseph raised his hand and asked before he was acknowledged. "Since you've basically established that we'll be here until the end of our days, what will you have us  _do?_ I know this isn't entirely charity."   
  
The balding man let out a chuckle, "Of course, as much as we would like for this all to be out of altruism, it isn't that simple to have a place like this running without everyone pulling their own weight in some way. There are far too many things that are needed to keep this place secure and hidden. However..."   
  
Mr. Harrington stood up, looking down warmly at his newest acquaintances, "...you all had just arrived today, and I'm pretty sure you're exhausted from the long travels. We'll discuss more on that subject tomorrow. I'll give you all a few days to get accustomed to this place before you actually begin doing anything." Mr. Harrington turned to look at Lt. Bates, who hadn't moved from position once, "Would you be so kind as to have your scouts lead them to the Eastern temporary living quarters? I have a few things I need to discuss with you."   
  
Lt. Bates nodded and looked at the younger scouts among the group. "Carter, Jesse: lead the boys to their rooms; Lisa, Gale: lead the girls. I will come meet with you guys momentarily.   
  
"Yes sir!" They all responded in chorus before lining up at the door. Lt. Bates beckoned the newcomers towards the scouts at the exit. after they instantly aligned themselves, Jesse opened up the door and the two groups walked out. both Mr. Harrington and Lt. Bates watched them leave until the heard the door lock back into place, leaving the two of them alone.   
  
For a few seconds, there was a tense silence.  
  
Mr. Harrington's face lost all trace of warmth as he looked back at Lt. Bates, his eyes darkened as a severe frown formed onto his face.   
  
"They're  _not_  experiments."   
  
Lt. Bates nodded, also bearing the same look of dread as his superior did. "I had suspected it a bit as well. Experiments don't have normal names. Shenirians  _never_ give experiments real names. Let alone allow parents to remain with their children for too long"   
  
"While there have been cases in which human names have been given to some of the escapees here, they were never human ones."   
  
"Do you think they're infiltrators? That they were bugged and forced to come down here?"   
  
"I don't know if they're infiltrators or runaways." Harrington's lips tightened into a thin line, "They are liars without a doubt though. However..."   
  
Mr. Harrington walked towards the door the group left out of. He could still see them walking off. "This hasn't been the first time incoming people had lied about where they came from. But to have this many in such a long time..."   
  
Lt Bates walked over to the shorter man. "I'll have my scouts watch them closely. Should we question them about it?"   
  
"No," Mr. Harrington responded, "Most likely they won't tell us the truth this early in. When you get the chance, have your subordinates check their belongings tomorrow. Make sure there is nothing too out of place."   
  
With a look so determined, it would have frightened others had Lt. Bates not seen it a few times before, he watched as the group vanish into the distance.   
  
"If we have no choice to assume the worst, we'll have to evacuate the Haven."   
  
The thoughts of what would happen if the entirety of thousands of people having to leave the only known shelter was more than enough to deepen the scowl of Lt. Bates face. If they were bugged from the  _start_ , then it would be too late to get rid of them. They probably were already somewhat aware of the Haven's location. It'd be too late to dispose of them, even before they had met.   
  
 _But evacuating the Haven..._  
  
"I know."    
  


\----- 

 

Gale, along with Lisa, had already finished getting the two girls set up in their rooms. The rooms were small, probably the size of a child's bedroom.   
  
Gale felt a bit out of place, as though she was in a position of a mix between a maid and an overseer. Carol and Jessica were easy enough to move in, being just the two girls of the new group. They hadn't said a word to either of the female scouts, either mumbling to themselves or quietly conversing to one another. Gale felt that they were talking about them, probably something along the lines of how they were forced to hold them up at gunpoint. She wouldn't be surprised, as she began to feel a wave of guilt wash over her.   
  
 _"They probably think we're holding them against their will. Well,"_ she thought, her eyes becoming downcast,  _"I guess we kind of are..."_  
  
Lisa, a woman who was about three years older and half a foot taller spoke to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Gale, go to the boys, they are probably still helping them settle in. These two are done so I will have Clarence get them some food."   
  
"Okay," Gale responded quickly before turning around and leaving the girls in their rooms.   
  
The boys were being situated downstairs in the same building. While not dilapidated, the establishment did look a bit worn. Probably from housing so many people in such tight spaces when they hadn't started expanding the Haven she surmised. While the room was dusty and needed a bit of cleaning, it seemed adequate.   
  
When she reached the bottom of the staircase, all she saw was Carter, Jesse and Matt in the hallway.   
  
Confused, she walked towards them. "Are you guys almost done that quickly?"   
  
Jesse (not "Jessie" Gale reminded herself) nodded his head, not even glancing her way. "Almost. Matt will have a room to himself since there was an odd number."   
  
"Problem is," Carter interjected, "None of the other rooms are in too good a shape. It'd take hours to get the one next door ready.  
   
Gale tilted her head. "We can just...give him one of the rooms upstairs, I mean, what harm is in it?"   
  
Matt, who had not said anything until then, smiled. "That is what I told them. The rooms are probably in better condition upstairs, and it isn't like we're miles apart from each other."   
  
"Clarence said he won't have it," Carter replied, "Girls on top, boys on the bottom. He kept insisting that we clear a room but with the exception that the other six are staying in, the conditions are hella crappy."   
  
Jesse turned to leave. "I will go see Clarence again and he see if he'll change his mind at all."  
  
Gale looked down the hallway to where Clarence's office was. He was a short, chubby man with a rough and stern demeanor, but very organized and was known to be very personable, but not always reasonable. She watched Jesse enter the office before she looked back at the two remaining boys, her eyes inadvertently locking onto Matt's. "Lisa said that she was going to see him about bringing food up to the girls. I can ask if she can convince him to let you stay upstairs. They've known each other longer than we've known him so...maybe..."   
  
Gale looked away from Matt, for a moment before looking down at her feet.   
  
Carter asked, rather blatantly, "What's wrong with you?"   
  
For a few more seconds, Gale continued to look down at her feet before looking at Matt, who flinched at the sudden eye contact. "Listen um...Matt right?"   
  
"Right," Matt answered back, sounding more like a question than a confirmation.   
  
"We're...we're not bad people, I don't think. I mean...if we...if  _I_ had the choice, then we wouldn't have forced you to come down here. I have nothing against you...and I'm pretty sure none of the others do as well so...what I'm trying to say is sorry...for how we met."   
  
Matt seemed shocked. It took a few seconds for him to find the exact words to say. "Well, er...that's okay! I mean, we know you guys were just being careful. If it were the other way around, we'd probably be just as suspicious. I..."   
  
He took a deep breathe, before giving a smiling down at the short-haired girl.   
  
"I don't blame you."   
  
Gale's eye widened as they looked at each other. A weight lifted off her heart; it was much heavier than she thought. She returned the smile and responded, "Thank you..."   
  
"Yeah um..."   
  
Both Gale and Matt looked at Carter, who seemed a bit nervous. He looked as though he felt out of place and was scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry too for...y'know...what happened outside."   
  
Matt looked as though he didn't know how to exactly respond. "Well, don't worry. You guys had to do what you had to do and besides, what's done is done. I'm not like the others, I'll try not to hold it against you."   
  
"... _Try?"_ both Carter and Gale asked in unison, looking somewhat alarmed.   
  
Matt's eyes widened and he tried to backtrack. "Wait! Y'know what I mean! What I'm trying to say is...well, I don't think I'm like Silas and some of the others, I'm not going to hate you for it!"   
  
"So, the others really do hate us..." Carter said with exaggerated dejection on his face. "Think they'll be as understanding as  _you?_ "   
  
"When you say it like that," Matt said with an uneasy pause, "...you make it sound like I'm conceited."    
  
"Let's start over," Gale said, reaching a hand out to Matt. "My name is Gale."   
  
Matt took hold of her hand shook it. "Nice to meet you Gale."   
  
Carter in turn held his own hand out. "I'm Carter." Matt let go of Gale's hand to shake Carter's. "Also nice to meet you. Are the both of you friends?"   
  
"Not really," Carter answered almost too quickly, with Gale giving him a quick glare.   
  
"We're just apart of the scouts, that's all." Gale answered.   
  
Matt seemed to notice the tension between the two and took a step back. "Well, um, while we're waiting me to get a room, do you mind if I take a look outside? I didn't really get to look around as much on the way here."   
  
"Sure, so long as one of us stays on this floor to keep watch..." Carter replied, expectantly looking at Gale, who only frowned.   
  
"I'll take you to look around," she said with hidden spite, meeting Carter's glare with her own. "Carter was tasked in helping out the boys anyway."   
  
"Both of you can show him around."   
  
All three of them looked to the left to see Jesse walking down the hallway back towards them. "I'll keep watch the make sure they are taken care of. Only around the Eastern quarters and nowhere else."   
  
"Uh...sure," Carter replied before Carter and Gale awkwardly looked at each other than at the hapless Matt who didn't know how to act around his new acquaintances. "Let's go then."   
  
The three of them walked down the hallway, towards the exit.   
  
Had either Gale or Carter been more attentive, they would have noticed the humming of a device coming to life inside Matt's pocket from the very beginning of the conversation. 


	6. Precaution

Once the three went out through the doors, Mazel was able to get a clear view of the buildings beyond the two sets of fifteen-foot tall gates.   
  
From what he could tell, the place was relatively impressive, in relation to what he had been expecting.   
  
Beyond the first gate was a series of different sized buildings that looked like office buildings to some degree. There were not as many of them, all of them lined up in rows on the left and right, leaving a wide space between to walk with dinky lampposts illuminating the cobbled "streets" and every corner of the place as far as he could tell. The tallest building, he saw, which was shorter than the headquarters he had left, was about seven stories tall, while the shortest was about three. For a moment, he realized that if he were back to his normal size, he would have been taller than nearly every building; he'd even would have to bend some to peek into the top floor of the seventh story building.  He had no idea what those structures could be used for. He was pretty sure each had their own separate purpose. He would have to ask someone about it once he got the chance. He didn't see many humans around the area as well, guessing that most of them were currently indoors.   
  
He could see where the cropping of the mega-mall had begun, and where the exit devolved into a very wide space that could encompass several city-blocks, by Shenirian standards, beyond the second gate. Beyond that was what looked to be countless simple two to three story buildings, made of brick and clay with a few windows on each. They were organized back to back, roughly about eighteen to twenty per block. He surmised them to be the residential dwellings for the people of this area. Some were decorated, obviously by the people that resided there by empty pots, paint, and other things that would have made it resemble a suburb had there been grass. Some were incredibly bare, almost making it them looked as though no one lived there. But if there were as many people that resided in the Haven as they claimed, it seemed as though they barely had enough to house everyone.   
  
That area seemed much busier, as he could make at least one hundred moving figures going to and fro, easily more humans he had seen in his life. The thought of there, where he was, being thousands of free humans was something he wouldn't have imagined beforehand. While they were too far for him to make out individually, he could hear them traversing the roads in the area. He could hear talking, yelling, laughing...all sorts of sounds he'd never witnessed the humans he saw within the pet stores make. They were so suspiciously like their kind, it sent chills up his spine. He decided to not dwell too much on that as he looked further.  
  
And even beyond that, he could make out several buildings that were relatively tall by human standards. Skyscrapers even. One building, in particular, seemed to reach at the very least a fourth of the way up to the stone and dirt ceiling of the Haven, with huge lights that functioned more like the morning sun than actual lights. The complexity of that building stood as a stark contrast to the relative plainness of the others surrounding it. It was an oval-shape, bulging from each side as the middle seemed to house a series of lights that faced downward around the surrounding area.   
  
He was pretty sure that he would need to find a way to get there as soon as he could.    
  
The entire place was the size of a town or small city. In twenty years, not counting the time it took to build the mega-mall space, they worked fast enough to allow this many humans to live in secrecy from the Shenirians up above. He was impressed that a species that never utilized construction drones were able to make such a huge dwelling within merely two decades. Let alone excavate the space in such a time.   
  
"How...how did they do this?" Mazel asked aloud, not expecting an answer. However, he got one just as briefly.   
  
"The Mega-mall hadn't been finished yet," Carter said, "They had already made a big space but when the invasion happened, all the construction workers stayed down here. They had to teach many of the first survivors to build, from what I was told. To make more room. And when more people came down here to, they put them to work as soon as they could. At least, that's what I was told."   
  
"If you want, we can go for a walk around the district. I mean, you'll probably eventually live over there once Mr. Harrington breaks you in." Gale added, absently brushing her shoulder with her hand, "He's probably going to keep you guys in the other building until we've settled what you're gonna do here." Gale pitched in. "Hopefully, it won't take too long."   
  
"'What we're gonna do?' What do you mean?"   
  
"Almost every single person here has  _something_ or another that we're assigned to do. With this many people, we need as much help as we can get." Gale stated in a matter-of-fact manner. It was, indeed, the life she knew.    
  
 _"Ah,"_ he thought. Of course, with thousands of people in hiding, it would be impossible for it to manage itself with just a few volunteers. But he didn't expect for them to make a decision for him on what it was for him to do. That could prove a problem in the future.   
  
"Anyway, this is the Eastern sector, so there isn't much to see here. And I don't think the Lieutenant wants us to go beyond that. Heck, I actually don't think he'll like us going this far with you guys as of day one." Gale said, her voice a bit lower than before with a hint of nervousness.  
  
"Well I'll be here for a while, right? The rest of my life actually." Mazel said sardonically. Of course, now that everything was going as is, that would be one of the worst case scenarios. Getting found out and dying didn't sound fun either.  
  
"Don't say it like that," Gale cried out, "It's pretty nice down here. I mean, you're from up above right? I know it probably doesn't have as much space but you're a lot freer down here than with... _them..._ "   
  
Carter grimaced. "It's probably a hell of a lot better than being in those labs, getting syringes and needles up the wazoo. I can guarantee you that. Unless you really like getting acupunctured by giants."   
  
All three parties immediately stopped walking. Mazel's eyes widened as Gale squawked at her colleague's audacity.   
  
"What? It's true though." Carter answered without any infliction in his voice. "Listen, I don't know what the hell those Shenirian bastards did to you up on the surface, and while I know our first meeting wasn't the best, I can tell you that you're a lot better down here than up there. You'll probably like it down here soon enough."   
  
Mazel stared for only a moment before his the tinges of his lips curled in the barest of smiles. "You act as though you've lived on the surface yourself." This human was blunt, a little  _too_ blunt. While he wasn't at all affected by his words, with the fabrication of being an experimental subject being so off the mark, he was more just shocked at how honest he was. Shenirian-property owned humans learned quickly to never say anything that could remotely anger their masters. Humans who spoke their mind too much ended up euthanized. He couldn't imagine his pet human suddenly speak his mind. Daze would never have had the courage to even speak to him like that. Granted, Daze was barely a speaker at all. Seeing a human exhibiting such behavior was a first for him.   
  
"Are you saying you  _liked_ being up there?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow.   
  
"No, of course not! I mean, I didn't like the scientists..." Mazel replied.  _Heh...scientists._ Since when did lying like this become so easy for him? "Just that...it was...better looking up there. More freedom. Space. Light."   
  
Carter didn't respond. He looked like he took a moment to consider before nodding. "Well, that's true."   
  
Gale shifted the subject a bit. "How did you escape? Lt. Bates said many people got away over time, but...we haven't seen any people in years."    
  
"There was a breach in the system," Mazel lied, giving the scenario that General Hull ran through them. "We snuck out at night. We've been on the move ever since until...well..." He drawled off, looking up at the impossibly high ceiling of the Haven.    
  
"I see." came Gale's short, somber reply. She had heard of the shifts between the moon and sun before, and was aware of it being akin to a endless, dark room. "Well...I guess it all worked out in the end, right?"   
  
"A little too early for me to know that right now," Mazel huffed, "I mean, I haven't been here a day, so..."    
  
"...Right."   
  
There was a uncomfortable silence between them, the only sound was their footsteps and ringing in their ears. Matt coughed to break the silence before he spoke.   
  
"So...Um, I'm guessing you guys were tasked with joining that...scout squad, or scouting group or whatever?"   
  
Carter reached a hand to scratch at his neck. "Well, sorta. I...I actually chose to join the scouts so I wouldn't be stuck with ground work. You know, digging and more digging. I'm not really a farmer-type."   
  
"Farms?" Mazel asked incredulously, turning his head to give a inquiry look to the taller boy. "You have  _farms_  down here? How? There's no sun!"   
  
"Well...I don't know the main specifics since I've never actually been in the rooms, but...well, they use these indoor lights. I heard they're like neon pink or something like that. But each sector has one." Carter explained, pointing to the right. Mazel and Gale both looked at where his finger was pointing; they saw a long flat building a distance away that seemed to be covered in tarp on the sides. "Like that building over there. Before my mom had me, she worked in that one and told me about it."    
  
"Huh, does she work there now?"   
  
Carter shook his head. "No, she's a little too old now. She had me late in life so she's able to do the easy stuff now. Like clay making and stuff."   
  
"Wait, so how old are you?" Mazel asked. He heard that humans tended to age the same way early in life compared to most Shenirians, but didn't live as long. Maybe only to one hundred, give or take a decade or two at most. A little over half the lifespan of his species.  
  
"Me? I'm nineteen."   
  
"Ah, okay then, cool," Mazel turned to Gale, who perked up once he faced her direction, "What about you?"   
  
"Oh, I'm seventeen. Will be eighteen in about five weeks though."   
  
"Sorry, sorry, I meant...were you avoiding the farms too?"   
  
"Oh no, oh no!" Gale answered, waving her hands, "I didn't get a choice in the matter. They just put me in there!"   
  
Mazel and Carter both stopped walking to give the small girl a look of astonishment. Judging by the wide-eyed looks in their faces, she elaborated. "I was on the list to join ever since last year. And they do that from time to time I heard, for when they feel the need to. Like when someone gets a little too old or they get injured doing something."   
  
"I...I didn't know Lt. Bates did something like  _that..."_ Carter whispered, feeling a well of uneasiness crawl up from his stomach.   
  
"Oh no, Lt. Bates doesn't make the call. Whoever manages the rosters does!" Gale defended, noticing Carter's growing disgust.   
  
Mazel asked, "Wait, what about your parents? Didn't they object?"   
  
"Oh, they're dead." Gale told them, "My dad died before I knew him, and I heard my mom died giving birth to me. So I lived in the Western shelter. I think they were the ones that signed me up."   
  
Mazel didn't know what was more shocking, the casualness of the her revelation or the fact that something like whatever counted for an orphanage here could sign up children like that. Were humans really that horrid and militaristic? Or was it just settlement?  
  
"That's...rough...no, actually, that's pretty damn  _disturbing!"_  
  
"Well," Gale said, shrugging her shoulders, "I didn't think it was a big deal. I just came in about six months ago, and until a couple hours ago, we never really had to deal with anything big. Usually, the biggest thing is guard duty and helping with expansion. This was the first time I had to...well,  _scout."_  
  
"Still...that soun-"  
  
 _"Aaaaaaaand..._ on a brighter note," Carter interrupted, stretching his arms up before swinging them around, "There is a media room on the next street over, in the third building. Since it'll be a while before everything gets situated with your room, how bout' we show you around for some stuff to do?"   
  
Mazel's eyes narrowed, causing Carter to stiffen and lower them to his side. While he understood what he was hearing was relatively unsettling, changing the topic had cut off any chances of possibly hearing any more valuable information of this settlement's internal protective structure and the likes. But he decided to let it go once he realized that he would have plenty of time to find out more. Especially since it seemed that the girl, Gale, was an open individual. Someone who was willing to talk about almost anything.    
  
He definitely would have to ask her more about it later it seemed.   
  
"Sounds great, but how long am I allowed to walk around until everything about my room gets situated?" Mazel asked, his eyes loosening up from its frosty glare in an attempt to remain reticent.   
  
"Well...they'll com us when they need you back, so until then, we're in the clear."   
  
"...Alright then," Mazel automatically smiled, "Let's check out the media room then."   
  


\----- 

Will couldn't help but swing his chair left and right as he re-watched the footage of Lt. Bates surround the group of outsiders. With the Eastern base's cameras linked to central's, it had only took a moment for him to get all of the angles needed in the nine divided screens on the computer monitors. Each video contained a different perspective from the encounter, from above a tree to the side of a rock, zooming in to see minute details of their visitors. 

Will had seen the entire encounter from the screens. He had been nervously tapping his feet onto the linoleum floor, as in preparation for something awry. The outermost cameras had no sound quality whatsoever, so there would be no way for him to proficiently hear what was being said. But he noticed the tall blond especially become riled up a bit before Lt. Bates said something to him to which he settled down, still looking quite angry. After a few minutes, the entire group seemed to straighten up and be led out by Bate's squadron, and it was until they reached the elevator that Will could finally let out a sigh of relief. 

Now, hours later, he could re-watch the whole thing without as large a lump in his throat.  

Seeing the encounter again over and over was enthralling at first, but soon he became quite blasé to it after the twelfth time in a row. 

His attention now was on something else... _someone_ else. 

He couldn't help but look at the brunette with the ponytail. She had beautiful dark brown eyes and equally beautiful hair that cascaded down her back in that ponytail. Unlike the redhead near her, who was understandably scared, the brunette maintained her poise, looking rather upset than scared. Determined even. Or was he just seeing things? 

Either way, he couldn't take her eyes off of her. 

Even when he heard the doors sliding open behind him, he didn't even turn, knowing full well who it was. All he did, was say, "Nothing new to say." 

"I figured as much," Damian mumbled as he strode into the room, glancing back at the monitors before looking at the teen who appeared absolutely starstrucked.  
     
Will gasped as he fell something cold and wet dribble down the back of his head, down his hair and onto his shirt. 

Turning around to look at the perpetrator, with a hand on his wet neck, he cried out, "What was that for?" 

Damian muffled a laugh, still holding the half empty glass of water high above the teen's head. "For acting like a creep." 

Will went aghast, cheeks flushing. "I'm not a creep!" 

"You've been staring at that girl on the video since the second play. Seriously, give it a rest." 

Will groaned before staring back at the screen one more time, pausing the footage. "I mean, I don't this girl and it's not like I'm following her every move. I mean, I do have to watch these videos and all. Speaking of which, there wasn't any Shenirians in any of the other border videos as well, so I'm pretty sure we're in the clear." 

"Good, if that's settled, then let's get out of here. Our shift is over. Electra and Nick are already downstairs. We can go." 

Will looked almost forlornly at the paused video of the woman. She just looked so pretty. Any other time, he'd be happy to get out of such a cramped little space, but he wasn't really willing to part with the digital image of her just yet. Damian let out a sigh. 

"Seriously, who gets smitten with a person they've never met? Like, seriously, it's only been a couple hours and you act like your head over heels in love with her." 

"I'm  _not_ in love with her! I mean, I know that love doesn't come like that!" Will defended, "It's just that...well..you know how you see those kinds of girls that just...stands out from the rest?" 

"There's only two girls in that video Will. There's not much to compare to." Damian surmised, turning off the paused video to allow the regular live video feed to filter in, causing Will to noticeably slouch. 

"You know what I mean! I mean, that girl too, but I mean all the girls in the Haven." 

"Will, I can tell just from looking at you act like some experienced romantic that you  _barely_ spoke to any of the girls here."  

Will huffed, "Well, of course not! Because they just don't compare to her!" 

"Hell on Earth, Will, you don't even know her  _name!"_

Will was quiet for a moment, but then smiled. "No...I don't know her name... _yet._ But give it some time. I'll ask Renate for it since she...you know, runs the place, or...hell, not 'or'... _when_ I meet her, I'll get to know her first chance I get." 

Damian couldn't stifle his laugh. He found himself covering his mouth in vain as Will's face turned red. Will moaned as Damian looked like he would keel over. After a few moments of bellowing laughter, Damian managed to control himself a bit to speak, wiping his eyes. 

"Look kiddo, I know you. I've known you for a couple years now. And a sweet-talker you are not. Plus, you don't even know the basics of asking someone out." 

In a low, quiet voice, Will said, "I...want to just get to know her is all." 

Damian's chuckling died out as he noticed the twinge of embarrassment in the boy's voice. For a second, Damian remembered that, despite never having the opportunity to actually experience school life or venturing out, Will was indeed just a regular teenager in some ways, still getting accustomed to life. Sure he'd never be able to experience anything along the line of inviting girls to a restaurant or theme park or whatever like he could before it all crumbled during the invasion, but he still was normal in other respects. Like experiencing crushes or infatuations. Just like he did when he was around his age before it all went down. 

High school... 

Panic... 

Fires...

 _Catherine..._

 __Damian shook his head, pushing back those memories that seemed to feel recent, even after two decades. Even though he managed to keep them at bay most of the time, they always found a way to creep back up on him.

The older man laid a hand on Damian's shoulder. "Look. I'm sorry, buddy. I was just messing with you. But let me tell you from experience that you  _kinda_  like her. So I don't want you doing anything rash. She's been here only for a bit, so before you go for little 'Miss Heart Throb,' let's wait until we know if we can approach them first." 

" _'Heart throb?'_  Puh-lease...it ain't to that level yet." Will taunted, any trace of vulnerability gone after snatching the water from Damian's hand above and finishing the rest of the glass in a few seconds. Setting the cup down, Will stood up to his chair, meeting the older man in the eye. 

The slightly taller man smiled, smacking Will on the back. "Could've fooled me. Say, how bout' we head to the media room? Since we didn't get the chance to finish the video. We can ask Renate if she wants to come. 

"Renny actually called in earlier," Will pointed out, "She wanted me to pass on to Nick and Electra that she won't be reachable for several hours." 

"Oh, that's right, she's probably supposed to talk with Mr. Harrington about the newcomers I think. Seeing if there are any open positions I think for the surveillance team." 

 _"Oooooooh!_ Now we're talking!" Will sung, his dark green eyes beaming, "That means we can get that girl here!" 

"So she can see how much of an utter dork you are? Sure." 

Will smiled, waving for the two of them to get moving, "Well, you might not know if she likes dorks. I mean, it beats being a grumpy old man like you." 

"I'm only thirty-eight, kid." 

"Exactly twice my age. That means old."   

"Old is fifty-something or older." 

"Like, Mr. Harrington?" 

"No, Mr. Harrington's ancient. He's a walking fossil." 

"Then what does thirty-eight make you?" 

"Reasonable." 

Will's grin widened. "Reasonably old." 

"Fine, if that's your unreasonably old, then you're unreasonably young." 

"I'm happy with that." 

"Good, then if we've come to a conclusion, let this reasonably old guy and unreasonably young guy get out of here. Seriously, I feel old only with you around." 

"Hey, if it counts for anything, I think anyone above twenty-one is reasonably old by my standards..." Will said stopping in place, his smile still broadly plastered across his face. 

Damian, on the other hand, didn't stop walking. "Even Renny?" 

"Even Renny." 

Will could hear the smile in Damian's voice, "Well then...just wait until I tell her then." 

 _"Psh!_ Go ahead, tell her. I don't care." 

Damian decidedly didn't respond, smile wide as he continued walking, with Will a bit behind. 

Once the doors closed behind him, he heard Will's hurried, and him cry out. "Hey wait, you aren't  _really_ going to tell Renny are you...Damian? Hey Damian? Hey... _come on!"_  

\----- 

Renate opened the door to Mr. Harrington's office, making sure to close it right after she stepped in. 

Mr. Harrington's office was spartan, with yellow walls and linoleum floor. Aside from most prominent feature in the office, the wide window in the back, showing the entirety of the Haven from high above, the only things in it were a couple of cushioned chairs, his desk, a computer and his swivel chair. On his desk, he had a couple of pictures frames standing up. What or who were on them, Renate didn't know, as they faced away from her. 

Mr. Harrington was standing next to his desk, watching the blond give a slight bow of respect before striding over to the elderly man. 

"Hello Mr. Harrington. It's been a while since you called me to your office." 

The elderly man smiled, letting out a chortle. "Indeed it has. You've quite a bit have you? Now you're in charge of overseeing everything I see." 

"When you say overseeing, it kind of makes me feel criminal," Renate said with a smile before taking Mr. Harrington's outstretched hand and giving it a firm shake before letting go. "Just say surveying the land or something. We are building up a bit after all. And besides," she took a seat onto one of the chairs, placing her hands on her lap, "...if we're talking about all those under me, it seems like they're so casual that I just don't really feel in charge." 

"Well," the elderly man said, taking a seat in the parallel chair, "They respect you nonetheless. If they didn't, I'm pretty sure you'd have them right out in a heartbeat." 

"Of course sir." Renate chuckled before her face became serious. Mr. Harrington's face also seemed to steel itself, as the two shared a silent understanding of what was being addressed. 

"The newcomers..." 

Mr. Harrington's hands clenched. "Yes. Lt. Bates and I discussed this. But we have reason to believe that they have not stumbled upon our dwelling  _by accident."_

"I know." Renate's voice came out in a terse whisper as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out what looked to be a small, silver and chrome tablet with several numbers etched onto the back. Facing the screen side up, she displayed it to Mr. Harrington. 

Unlike the crisp, bright footage within the Central's surveillance room, the video was in monochrome, with fuzzy imagery.       
   

However, also unlike the footage from the surveillance room, there was a peculiar image of the group of newcomers. 

Unlike the other pictures of the newcomers walking as a collective group of nine people, there was a faint hint of a silhouette behind them. A few human-shaped shadows that barely crept up from behind. 

More people... 

"They did say that they got separated from seven other people." Mr. Harrington pointed out, but not any less suspicion. 

Renate's lips pursed tighter, "Well, as believable as that is...this footage was taken from one of further most cameras. Literally merely a mile away from where they appeared in the cameras from the Eastern border. For them to get separated so easily doesn't seem so feasible on a straight path." 

"I see...for you to get this, it must have been from one of the first cameras set up." 

"Yes." 

The airy sound around them was filled with unease. Renate had always been exceptionally perceptive, and Mr. Harrington had noticed it the day she came to work in Central's surveillance team. But he hadn't expected her to start noticing such small, yet off-setting details. 

"I wanted to discuss this with you just in case. I'm not one to overreact but I think we shouldn't keep our eyes off them."   
     
"Indeed, we shouldn't." Standing up from the chair, Mr. Harrington walked to his desk. He opened a drawer that was out of her sight and fished around for something. After a couple seconds, he withdrew his hands, holding a foot-long, rectangular box before closing the drawer. Walking back to his seat, he sat down and held out the box to Renate as if it were a present. 

"Ms. Kaufmann. You are the youngest of my subheads, but you have one of the best foresight among them all. So, I am going to ask a favor from you." 

"I'm listening." Renate responded quickly yet congenially. She placed her hands on top of the box, not opening just yet. 

"I'm going to place one of the newcomers under your care. I want you to observe them: their habits, their word choice, their body language. I need you to tell me if anything is suspicious. I will inform the other heads to do the same thing." 

"Consider done. I will report to you anything that seems out of it." 

"Good. I know I can trust you. Also, there is one more thing." Mr. Harrington said, motioning his head to the box. 

Renate looked back at the box, and with the hand that was on the top, gripped the lid before pulling it off completely. 

She paled as she recognized immediately for what it was. 

"Mr. Harrington...?" 

"This," he said as he lifted it from the box, the black metal steel shimmering a bit under the light. "...is a Beretta 92. A semi-automatic. I know that the scouting group has these as well. I'll have Lt. Bates show you how to shoot properly." 

"I...but why are you giving a gun to  _me?"_ Renate asked in disbelief, her eyes not once leaving the pistol in the man's hand. 

Mr. Harrington placed the gun back in the box. "Like I said before, out of all my subheads, you have the best foresight. Don't worry, it's likely that I'll have this talk with all the subheads that I place the newcomers with." 

"But...a gun?" 

Mr. Harrington's eyes became stoic as he leaned back in his chair. "Renate, we're no longer living in a world made for us anymore. We cannot afford liberties such as trust the way we used to. So long as we thrive down here, we need to take every precaution we can manage." His voice lowered into a whisper, "A broken jammer, a suspicious Shenirian, a power failure...all it takes is one slip up for it all to come crumbling down." 

"...I understand." Renate replied. After all, she did.

Mr. Harrington's hands shook, whether from anger or sorrow, she didn't know. But his voice remained even. "I've lived most of my life outside of the underground...and remember how things used to be. It's so strange how...fragile our existence has become. As if...it has always been. Creating this place...it was supposed to be a mall, but it certainly has become so much more."       

Renate just stared at Mr. Harrington, whose eyes seemed to be looking beyond her. Beyond the walls, seeing something she couldn't. The past... 

"You are smart enough not to use it immediately. Only when absolutely necessary. That's why I trust your judgement."

She looked back at the gun. Nervously, she wrapped her hand around the cool metal. It was heavier than expected. 

"I...I think it'll take time for me to get used to this." the blonde woman admitted, shifting the gun into two hands. 

Mr. Harrington had seemed to have refocused. "I know. like I said, I'll let Lt. Bates help you." 

Renate smiled cordially and nodded. "Thank you, sir." 

Returning her smile, he stood up. "Pleasure's all mine, Renate. Pleasure's all mine." 

Renate stood up as well, towering over the man by a few inches. With the box in hand, she walked passed the doors of office into the brightly lit hallway. 

She had only taken a few steps forward before she picked up the pace. Her boots clacked on the hard floor as she passed by several people who turned in her direction before she stepped into the women's bathroom. 

She placed the box onto the sink. And took several deep breaths. 

From the way Harrington composed himself, the situation may have been possibly worse than she gathered. 

She was a capable individual, even she knew that, but even she was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by the sudden heavy responsibility that had fallen onto her shoulders. In her heart, and possibly Mr. Harrington's and Lt. Bates hearts as well, she truly hoped they were wrong. That it was a misunderstanding. 

That she wouldn't have to make the biggest call for the safety of the Haven. 

She wiped her forehead, and stared at the box between her arms, resting on the marble sink. 

She slowly opened the box again, as if the the gun would vanish. But it was still sitting there. 

She readied herself with a exhale before picking it back up like it would suddenly go off from a mere touch. 

After a few seconds, she knew she had to make sure. 

Pressing the side of cartridge, she lifted it up to her eyes to look at it. 

She grimaced.

It was fully loaded.      


	7. Mingle

_22 years ago..._  
  
Negligence caught up with him, and now he was paying the price in the form of boredom.   
  
Damian continued to look out the window and watch the women's soccer team play as he twiddled his pencil between his fingers. Aside from the occasional sound of someone tapping away at their phone under their desk and the sound of someone scribbling on their paper, the room was mostly silent except from the constant, gentle hum of the air conditioning machine that chilled the class a bit too strongly for his liking.     
  
Ms. Herthwood, with her wrinkled face set in a perpetual frown, would periodically glance up from her book to survey the students that were sitting in the classroom. Damian would sometimes glance at the silver-haired woman to see if she was ready to get up and signal the end of detention. So far, even forty-something odd minutes in, it was still ongoing.   
  
His fingers tapped anxiously at the desk as he witnessed the goalie block an incoming shot before everyone was called in by the coach to either wrap up or review, he didn't know. Either way, they could no longer distract him from the monotony around him. And given that he had already finished his homework and reviewed for the Algebra quiz probably enough times for equations to haunt his dreams, there was nothing left to do but to lie his head down and take a nap. Unlike Mr. Gren, Ms. Herthwood didn't really care so much about students sleeping in the middle of a forced review session.   
  
And so, with a sigh, his mind went blank as he entered a peaceful oblivion.   
  
But it felt like only a minute had passed after he laid his head down when he felt someone nudging his shoulder.   
  
Tiredly, he raised his head, his neck aching from it's uncomfortable position to drowsily look at the person who disturbed his slumber.   
  
A short girl, with light brown hair that cascaded down her shoulder and bright blue eyes behind a pair of rather thick, wire-rimmed glasses was looking at him. She looked fairly sleepy herself, eyes drooping halfway.   
  
"Hey..." She said with a light Midwestern lilt in her voice. "It's over. You're the only one in the classroom."   
  
"Wha...?" Damian yawned, bringing his hands to wipe the sleep from his eyes. "No way, I just put my head down."   
  
The girl rose an incredulous eyebrow, which disappeared into her overarching bangs. "It's almost 5:30, you know that right? Detention ended over an hour ago."   
  
He woke up instantly, leaning up in his seat and pushing his chair out. "Holy crap, really!?"     
  
She nodded before pointing to the door. "Yeah. I need to lock these doors. So, can you grab your stuff?" Pointing to the teacher's desk, she added, "I think that's your phone over there Is it?"   
  
With a glance, recognizing the Daft Punk android casing, he nodded. "Yeah, it's mine alright."   
  
"Alright," she sighed before walking out of the room, waiting at the door. "Once you leave, I'll lock it."   
  
"Hang on a sec," He said, pulling on his simple white hoodie and reaching for his bag. Pulling out his earbuds as he made his way to pick up his phone, he swore under his breath when he realized that his parents would badger him for coming in late. There would be no hiding the fact that he'd skimped on his assignments again once he got home. And they most likely had already called Rudy. He'd probably be grounded for a couple of weeks. His elderly  _babcia_  would also probably remind him that he'd had to take his studies more seriously. Like she did every weekend without fail.   
  
"Okay, I'm set," he told her as he walked through the maroon doors into the hallways. As it was late Spring, there was still plenty of sunlight to gleam through the windows onto the smooth, black floor of the third floor. "Sorry about that. Don't know why no one woke me up."   
  
"Was it Ms. Herthwood? She's kind of infamous for not giving a damn usually." The girl pointed out with a friendly smile, which Damian returned with a very brief chuckle.   
  
"Yeah, I've heard the rumors. I don't have her class though, but my friend did last year and told me she doesn't even remember giving out homework assignments a lot. Kinda jealous."   
  
"I have her now," the girl said, pulling out a ring of keys and selecting the one labelled "Rm. 411" before locking the door, "For British Literature. We were supposed to have a test one time, and she even held a review session and everything but the next day,  _woosh!"_ The girl swung an open hand across her like a jet, "Completely forgot. We got it the day after though."   
  
"Oh my God."   
  
"Tell me about it."   
  
As the two headed down the stairs, Damian gave a closer look at the girl who barely reached his shoulders. She was very waif-like, dressed in a striped, white and green blouse under a solid, green sweater. With a pair of light blue jeans and white ballet shoes, she neither seemed to look overly casual nor overly trendy. But the size of her glasses were a bit off-putting on her face. To be honest, she looked like a bookworm upon sight.   
  
"Say...what grade are you in?" Damian asked as they both trudged down the stairs. "You have keys, so are you a senior?"   
  
"No," the girl answered, "I actually am Mr. Jeff's student aide. I'm a sophomore. You?"     
  
"Same. Sophomore. It's just that I thought you had to be junior or senior to be a student aide."   
  
"Usually," she said before elaborating, "...but I volunteered because the former student aide got mono, so I've been covering until she comes back to school."   
  
"Oh. That sucks."   
  
"Well," she shrugged, "Whatcha' gonna do?"   
  
They made it to the door, which Damian held open for her. With a quick thanks, she went through. He instantly remembered just how much warmer the outside of the school was when the sun directly hit his face. With a cloudless sky and air alive with the chirping of birds and insects, he remembered that there was only around a month left until summer vacation. He rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie and stretched.   
  
"So..." the girl asked beside him, "...are you getting picked up?"   
  
"No," the sixteen year old replied, "I live about a thirty-minute walk from here. I'm just stalling for time since I know I'm in trouble when I get home."   
  
"Well, shame on you...uh...actually, what's your name? I don't think we got each others names actually."   
  
"Oh, actually you're right," Damian chuckled, "You even woke me up too. Mine's Damian."   
  
The girl smiled, "Catherine. Cath or Cat for short, but we usually don't use it in my family since my mother's name is Kathy, and things get complicated."   
  
"Ah, that's weird. But I follow you." Damian remarked with a smile. "Wait, so how about you? Are you waiting for your ride or...?"    
  
"Yeah. My older sister's going to pick me up, but I need to wait until her class is over. So in about an hour and forty-five minutes."   
  
_"That long...?"_  
  
Damian turned towards her. "Hey, do you wait that long every day?"   
  
"Nah," she responded, "Just on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She's in night class and lives in the dorms."    
  
"Damn, that's rough." He commented with a small frown. Looking around, he noticed that no one was really around, at least outside. The sports practices must have long came to an end, and most cars were gone from both the teacher's and student's lots. And while Barbara High School was in a relatively safe part of the city, it just didn't feel right to leave someone, let alone a small girl like Catherine, alone as it would get dark.   
  
"Say...Catherine," Damian started, making the small girl look into his eyes, "You know, I can wait here. I'm already in a hell of a lot of trouble when I get home, so..."   
  
"Oh no no no!" Catherine hurriedly defended, moving her hands rapidly in front of her, "You don't have to do that. I'll be fine. Really. I do this often. So it isn't a big deal."   
  
Damian huffed before shaking his head. "No really, it's not any inconvenience at all. Plus, I  _really_ don't want to head home right now."   
  
Catherine looked at him before sighing, a smile in her voice. "Fine, since you're such an insistent gentleman and all." She tilted her head towards the concrete benches situated around the vending machines. "Let's sit down."   
  
He agreed and sat down next to her, dropping his bag on the side. He raised his hand to hide his smile. "Insistent gentleman sounds cool. I like that."   
  
"Well, I was originally thinking about just calling you a weirdo, or slacker, but I've known you for only all of, what, five minutes? Seriously though...you sure you want to stay?"   
  
"Best way to make friends." Damian told her. "Plus, I actually want to hear more about Ms. Herthwood."   
  
She snickered, tugging her backpack into her lap, "If you get me started on her, I won't shut up, y'know?"   
  
Damian returned the grin, looking into her eyes that glimmered under the bright sun. "For some reason, I get the impression I don't want you to."   
  


\----- 

_Present Day_

 __It been so long since he felt any temperature where he could comfortably walk about without wearing some sort of jacket or coat. The only times that he actually felt warm enough to go without a second layer of some sort was inside buildings or under the thick blankets of his own abode.

As years went on, the sun felt more like a distant memory than an actual ever-present thing outside and above the underground expansion. He deeply missed the sun's kiss on his skin. 

Will walked at a slightly faster pace than Damian, but kept stopping to see the man spacing out. "Hey, Damien." 

"Huh?" The older man said, eyes becoming focused, "What's up?" 

"...Nothing," Will said, but his voice sounded somewhat concerned. "Kinda lost you for a second there. Where'd you go?" 

"Ah, it's nothing. Just...lost in my thoughts." Damian assuaged with a small smile. "What were you saying before?" 

"So you weren't listening," Will sighed dramatically, shaking his head, "I was asking if you thought that girl would like watching something on the monitors. Like a show or movie." 

"Oh, now I remembered why I zoned out in the first place," Damian groaned, dragging a hand down his face, "You're  _still_  on about that girl? Goodness gracious, you haven't even  _met_ her yet!" 

"What? I got to keep my prospects open, that's all!" the teen defended with a pout. 

"Out of curiosity, Will, what will you do if it turns out she's a complete and utter bitch?" 

Will pouted. "Making so many assumptions about her, man." 

"Look whose talking," Damian said with a chuckle. "But seriously though, what if she's not all she's cracked up to be? Will you be one of those guys who can dog it out for a while or actually look into other girls?" 

"Ugh, I don't know," said the teen, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, I'd probably just move on. I mean, you said it yourself, I don't even know her. But I mean, c'mon! Look at our situation here!" Will exclaimed, bordering on complaining. "About half the girls here are either too old for me or just ain't that interesting!" 

"Will, with opinions like that, it's no wonder girls aren't exactly running into your arms," Damian remarked snidely. "Beggars can't be choosers."    

Will sighed, dragging a hand down his face before giving out a single clap. "Let me rephrase that: almost every legal girl here is in there mid twenties or higher. I'm nineteen Will. I can't handle older women, they scare me!" 

"Now the truth comes out," the older man mockingly announced, "Little Willie has a fear of older chicks! Who couldn't have seen that for miles?" 

"Remind me to never ask for romantic advice from you again, Dame." Will huffed, turning to look away from his friend. "If I want someone to put down and mock my love life, I'll just come to you." 

 _"What_ love life?" Damian asked with a teasing smile. "Last time I checked, it was non-existent."  

 _"Dame,"_ Will hissed, voice laced with annoyance as he glared at his friend. "Case in point."

Damian gave out a single wave. "Alright, alright. I'll cool it. S'not really anything to be ashamed about really." The older man lowered his hand into his jacket pocket. "But in all seriousness, kiddo: don't put all your eggs in one basket. And don't idealize someone you haven't even met before face to face. You'll be sorry you did." 

"Hanging around you, I think I've learned from experi- _huh?"_  

Damian immediately glanced over to his friend, watching him stop in his tracks. "What is it?" 

"Look over there." The younger man instructed, pointing ahead. The thirty-eight year old followed his finger. 

Several yards away were three people walking together into the three-story, translucent glass complex that held the media room. They were talking away, about what, there was no way Damian could make out from such a distance. Squinting a bit, he easily recognized the girl with the black hair and long bangs as well as the boy with short, blonde hair. They often crossed paths around this area, even having shared the media room a few times, although he never caught their names. However, it was the boy in between them, with unkempt brunette hair that stood out, wearing a simple gray jacket while the other two wore the dark green, bomber jackets that the scouts wore. His eyes widened as recognition began to dawn on him. 

"That one of the guys from the surface! The ones that just got here!" Will exclaimed, before lowering his finger. "They set his place up, already? He's already on the move down here! Talk about fast." 

"No kidding," Damian agreed, slightly puzzled. "Usually, I mean, I know it's been some time but, almost no one never gets to see around here until after the second day. Weird." 

As they watched them enter the glass building from afar, the older man scrunched his eyebrows when he heard a strangle giggle emit from his partner. "Will?" 

Will was covering his mouth, stifling a laugh before lowering his hand to grin brightly. "Seriously, this is just good luck coming down from the heavens!"         

"Just what the hell are you talking about?" Asked Damian, blinking in confusion. 

Will's smile seemed to glow brighter. "Don't you see? My opportunity just went inside! Where we're going!" 

 _"Oh._ Well if you also go  _that_ way then I won't judge or anyth-" 

"No no no, that's not what I meant," Will scoffed, cutting Damian off. "I mean, that guy? Also from the surface? Chances are that they probably know each other. Might be friends even." 

"Maybe even boyfriend and girlfriend for as much as we know." 

 _"Bastard king of Shenirian prickled pricks,_ Damian! don't dash away my dreams like that!"  Will whined, looking almost panicked. 

"That's a creative one. I hope you don't kiss your mother with that mouth, kid." The older man lightly chastised. 

"Back to the point," Will said, swinging a finger in a circle, "If they know each other, there's a chance that he could help me get hooked up with her." 

"That's what I call a very douche-y thing to do in my book, Willie: using someone just to get close to someone else." 

Will frowned, shaking his head. "No, hold on I-...don't get it twisted. I actually  _do_ want to get to know this guy, as a friend but...he might be my best link!" 

"Uh-huh...and just  _how_ are you going to express that? Pester him too much, and chances are, he'll see you as a user immediately."  

"Okay then, how bout' I ask him up front then?" Will said, changing his tune. "If I go about it honestly, then there will be no misunderstandings on what I want and if he can help me or not!" 

"Your're such a dope, Will." Damian said with an exasperated sigh, but the teen pretended not to notice. 

"Well, we can sort the details once we go inside. C'mon, standing out here isn't doing us any good!" 

And with that, the boy rushed forward, leaving his still walking companion behind. 

"And just whose fault is it that we were standing out here in the first place?" Damian mumbled, still taking his time to walk into the glass complex. 

\----- 

Twenty-two year old Lisa Agnes let out a long, relieved sigh once she was out of earshot of the two newcomers, Jessica and Carol, who were talking to each other in hushed whispers, basically leaving the recon scout stranded.   

While it didn't take long to set up their room and brief them on the routine schedules of breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as residential protocol, the two seemed so on edge and tense with her that she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in their presence, as if time itself felt like it was stretched out the longer she was around them. They made no effort to really communicate with her, giving her short, curt responses whenever she tried to prod them to share about themselves. The most she got was, "Nothing special," when she asked if they had any particular food they enjoyed. 

She honestly couldn't wait to get away from them. She practically speed-walked away from their room once she served them their meal. 

"Some people you just can't talk to," Lisa said to no one in particular, going down the stairs. " _Maybe I should have been the one to go with them instead,"_ she thought, glancing out one of the windows makeshift dormitory, looking in the direction Carter, Gale and that new boy, Matt, had disappeared to. 

She walked out of the doors, she noisily yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth since no one was watching. Her eyes were beginning to droop, the adrenaline she had earlier faded long ago, just making her feel exhausted. 

Just as she began to contemplate whether or not to see if she could squeeze in a five minute power nap, her handheld-transceiver buzzed, startling her awake. 

Quickly, she pulled the device from the holder on her hip, partially extended the antenna and clicked the button. 

"This is Lisa Agnes of Recon. Currently stationed in the eastern borders. Over." She answered, removing her finger from the button. 

After a very short pause, there was a click and then came in the unmistakable, commanding voice of her superior.  ** _"This is Lieutenant Bates. Lisa, where exactly are you?"_**

 ** __**Lisa looked back at the building she was just in. "I'm outside the dorms where the newcomers are residing. We've finished moving them in."

 ** _"Is there anyone near you?"_**

 ** __**"No," Lisa answered, raising a suspicious eyebrow. Every scout knew to move into a private area once their HT buzzed, as they were taught to do so. So for Lt. Bates to ask that seemed rather peculiar.

"No." Lisa answered, feeling a different kind of uncomfortable from before. "The newcomers and Jesse are inside." 

 ** _"And where are Jesse, Gale and Carter?"_**

 ** __**"Jesse's still inside keeping watch until everything finished. Gale and Carter are taking one of the newcomers, Matt I think his name was, around the Eastern borders while his room situation is being dealt with."

  
The other line remained quiet for a bit, and Lisa felt more and more perturbed. 

"Sir?" 

 _ **"...It's nothing,"**_ came Lt. Bates's voice after a few long seconds.  ** _"Lisa, I will contact the others one hour from now, but I want you to relay this message as discretely as possible: meet within the Recon Operations Room two hours from now. There's something that I need to discuss with you all."_  
**  
"Understood," Lisa replied dutifully, but she couldn't hide all of the wariness in her voice. "if I may ask, is there something wrong?" 

there was another brief pause before Lt. Bates came in, tone lower than before.  _ **"No. At least, not immediately it seems. We'll talk more once everyone has gathered."**_

"Alright," Lisa conceded politely, her hand grabbing her HT device a bit more tightly than usual. "I will let them know once I get the chance to." 

 _ **"Alright."**_

And with that, the device continued to let a quiet, static hum before the buzzing came to a complete stop, signifying the end of the conversation. 

No longer that sleepy, Lisa returned to the inside of the building once more, hoping she might be able to pull Jesse to the side. 

She began to feel unusually humid under the collar. 

\----- 

Brian Bates lowered the HT from his ear and put it back on his hip. 

He had managed to contact twenty-six of the thirty-one recon scouts, the other five currently preoccupied or unable to find a solitary place. But if anything, he could wait. 

He pinched the bridge of is nose before pushing his hand up to rub his temple.   

 _"Of course, nothing in life goes that smoothly,"_ he thought bitterly, eyes looking at nothing. 

He tried over and over what to think about any possible way he could have foreseen any suspicious giveaways the group of supposed runaways had given before they entered the Haven, and aside from his "intuition" (which he wished he hadn't dismissed earlier on), he was drawing blanks. The clothes they wore were worn and dirtied enough. They're mannerisms were understandably apprehensive. When they were searched, nothing was found on them at the time. Unless they were good at hiding whatever they had; it was completely possible. 

In the mostly concrete building that housed that served to house all operations and gatherings for the reconnaissance scouts, wide and bare, giving the building a rather unfinished look in a way as it was devoid of any decorations or bright colors of any sort. There were five tables, long enough to seat ten people each, with metal stools chairs side by side to one another. A projector screen was situated at the far end of the room, with an old overhead projector sitting on a small, brown desk in the corner of the room. A set of aged, fluorescent lamps lit the room with a yellowish tinge.    

Inside the room, the leader of the scouts felt his frustration nag more and more at him, before he exhaled slowly through his mouth. 

He would need a clearer head to think about any missing links. And it would be best to hold an open discussion once everyone would come in two hours. 

It was the solitude that he felt the most uncomfortable; the lack of any sound aside from the thrumming of the lights above and his own breathing perturbed him. Many years ago, silence was golden, to him at least. Not, it bothered him, as there weren't any calm background sounds like the chirping of birds or cars rolling on the adjacent street. This kind of silence allowed for his mind to become too loud at times, with dismal thoughts and memories. 

The twenty years that passed still felt too recent, and always would. 

Before memories would come once more, as it did when he was often on his lonesome, his own HT came to life right before he could drift in a trance. 

He picked it up with haste, knowing full well who would contact him. 

 _"Lieutenant Bates?"_

"Yes, Mr. Harrington? Is there anything you need?" 

 _"I have a favor to ask you, but it isn't anything immediate."_

"Anything sir," Brian said, willing to do anything between the two-hour waiting interim, "What would you like me to do?" 

Mr. Harrington's voice came in softly and smoothly,  _"Do you know Renate Kauffman? The subdirectory chief of Central Surveillance? The young, blonde woman?"_

Although no one would see it, he nodded. "I believe so. Not personally. We have crossed paths a few times, however. Why do you ask?" 

 _"Lieutenant, I know you have quite a lot on your plate already, but this is something I truly need your help with. I need you to teach her how to shoot."_

"Her? Why?" 

There was the sound of something shifting, a chair most likely, heard faintly from the radio.  _"The lady has a very keen eye. She's caught on more to our new guests very quickly. Spotting more possible inconsistencies. I'm going to place one of them under to keep a watch for anything foul."_

"I see," Brian said with full understanding. "After I have the discussion with my scouts, I will try to contact her and set up a time for me to teach her and have her practice." 

 _"You truly are a very reliable man, Lieutenant."_ came Davis Harrington's compliment. 

Brian smiled. "I truly wish that were the case." 

And with a blip, the conversation ended. 

 _"Renate Kauffman..."_ thought Brian, his mind going onto the aforementioned tall, blonde woman . She was the youngest of the subheads, barely older than the invasion itself, probably too young to have any memory of it. While he could recall meeting her a few times, they barely exchanged words with one another, at least enough for him to remember anything significant. 

In a different life, he could envision her being a model or, given her capabilities, even a graduate student, but here, in this underground city that has become the domicile of thousands, she now was in a position that determined the safety of countless lives.  

His mind reflected on that for only a short time, as looked at his watch, realizing on several minutes had passed before he decided to exit the building. 

He had time to kill, after all. Might as well use some of it to clear his head and stroll around for a bit. 

Given how active he'll probably be, his chances would become fewer and fewer. 

\----- 

"What do you think?" 

Carter watched as Matt took in the sight of the media room with wide eyes and open mouth. 

Very few buildings in the Haven's entirety had actual interior decorating outside of earth tones and monochrome schemes. The media building was a fine exception, with the walls not covered in glass consisting of all kinds of colors from the rainbow, in thematic splatters going across. Even more remarkable was the disco ball shining lights all around the floor, showering the place in all kinds of obnoxious hues. While the disco ball only illuminated one area of the gigantic room, the other half were lit up by small, white LED bulbs on the ceiling that streamed on long wires in arches like Christmas lights. There were a row of arcade machines, currently turned off it seemed, sitting against the furthest wall. On the right side, there were three pool tables, the sixteen nearby pool cues situated in a holder on the wall. In the corner, was a tall, black radio with several tall stacks of CDs sitting on a shelf, with more in a shelf, a bit skewed. In the very center, was a spiral metal staircase that led upwards. 

In the far right corner, there was a man with wire frame glasses sitting at a desk, quietly reading a book. 

Matt kept turning his head to look at everything. "It...there's a lot here." 

"And this is just the first floor," Carter emphasized with a smile. "The second floor has a music room and the third's basically a movie theater." 

"There is a basement floor," Gale added, stepping ahead and pointing to a bright, yellow and blue door in the corner nearest to the man reading, "But it's basically kids stuff there. For children too young to really mess with the bigger stuff."  

"It's definitely looks a lot bigger on the inside," Matt admitted, taking another moment to admire the scenery. 

"Sure is," Carter said, as he began to walk to the man reading a book. 

Once Carter reached him, he waited for the dark-skinned man to acknowledge him, but after a few seconds, he still hadn't looked up from his book. It was until Carter cleaned his throat that the man glanced up to see who interrupted his reading session. 

"C'mon Carter. You're the only one who doesn't just 'hello' right off the bat." 

"Fine then," Carter said with a teasing smile, "Hello James, how are you this fine, lovely evening?" 

"Don't be a dick either," the man said, giving a solid fist bump to the scout. The man put down his book to look at the two people behind him. He threw his head back upon seeing them. 

"Okay, I see the girl, Gale, often enough but whose  _that_  guy?" He said, squinting to get a closer look at the man who he'd never seen before. 

Carter beckoned him over, with Gale likewise following him. "This is Matt." He introduced, with the other male nodding his head in greeting. "He's new here. To everything here actually." 

"Well nice to meet you Matt-a-roo," James greeted, extending his hand to shake. Matt, squinting an eye at the new nickname, took the hand and shook it firmly. "So these two people brought you here to actually do something fun, right? Speaking of which," he said, shifting his gaze to the two scouts. "I rarely see the two of you come in together. Is both your shifts over, or you guys just friends or on a date may-" 

"Hell no." Said Carter.

"Not a chance." Said Gale. 

"Okay, then," James said, raising both his hands, "I sense the tension. Well, you guys can sort that all out on your own time."  James looked back at Matt, who jumped a bit once he had the man's attention once more. "In any case, welcome to the media center aka the media room aka the fun place or whatever you want to call it. You can play games, listen to music, play music, watch a show or movie on the third floor, dance, talk or whatever here. There's not many rules here actually. Just don't do anything stupid. And don't take anything out of this building. Comprendre?" 

Matt shook his head. "Yeah." 

"Well alright then," James concluded with a wave of his hands. "Now the three of you go do something. I'm halfway through this book. I plan to finish it by tomorrow. Go on, scat."   

"Tch! Nerd..." Carter said, shaking his head. 

The three left the man to his own devices, centering around the stairway. Upon closer inspection, Matt said something.

"It's pretty empty," Matt remarked. "For a place like this, wouldn't there be more people?" 

Gale looked at him, her eyes lying on the pool table, with the numbered balls still on the table. "Everyone's pretty busy around this time. Most people kind of operate around the same time, with some people at night." She looked back at Matt, "Usually, we'd be doing our rounds about now, but with you and the others in, today's been playing out rather differently." 

"A welcomed change of pace, that's for sure," Carter said, already walking towards the pool cues. 

"Rounds?" asked Matt, watching the other male stop at the rows of sticks. 

"Around the Haven, of course," the blonde clarified. "Got to make sure everything's in tip top shape after all." He pulled four of the pool cues out of their holders. "We may be the reconnaissance squad, but when we're not doing recon, basically ninety-eight percent of the time, we're just reporting about everything."  

Belatedly, Carter looked at his fellow scout, his tone even. "You wanna play?" 

Gale let out a small, annoyed groan. "On your side? No. Matt's definitely." She tilted her head. "By the way, why do you have four cues? There's only three of us." 

Carter looked back in the direction of the reading man, James before calling out. "Hey James! Put that book down and join us! C'mon!" 

"Screw you," James yelled back across the room. "I told you, I'm reading!" 

"Don't be bad sport,  _Jamie Wamie!"_ Carter sung, "We need an even number! Your book will still be there! We'll probably get called back not too long after! Please?" 

A loud groan sounded from the man as he put his book down, face down on his desk. Standing up, the bespectacled man walked towards the three, mouth set in a half frown. "Dude, your the main reason why I can never get any crap done." 

"You're the best, buddy." Carter said with a smile before tossing him a cue, which the man caught smoothly. 

Carter tossed a cue to Gale, then Matt next before shifting the his own into his dominant hand. 

"Uh...what are we doing exactly?" Matt asked, observing the shaft of the pool cue he was holding.

Carter smirked, grabbing a shaper from the top of a small shelf. "We're going to have a quick match actually. Playing pool." 

"Pool?" 

"Yep, it's me and James against you and Gale." Carter twisted the pool shaper over the tip of his cue, "Because James always wants to choose solids, we'll do solids. And you guys have stripes." 

"You like choosing everything for us, don't you?" Gale asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance. 

Carter looked at her and sighed. "Fine, you guys want to be solids?" 

"Um...hold on," Matt rose a hand, interrupting the two. "You guys are about to play a game I know nothing about. No details or rules or anything. At least give me a break down!" 

"Oh of course I was going to explain the rules to you, Matt!" Carter told him, "I know you don't know how to play. I just thought a more hands-on demonstration is a bit better, you know?" 

Matt watched as Gale put the balls in between a wooden triangle before sifting them around the table. A sole white ball laid outside of it, situated right at one of the triangle points facing one far end of the table. 

"We can probably do one game," Carter said as James took the shaper from his hand to use for his own cue. 

With a confident smile, the blonde looked at the brunette, who still stared at him puzzled. 

"Alright, here's how you play."


End file.
